Juventus coach Antonio Conte has been banned for 10 months for failing to report alleged match-fixing involving Siena when he managed them in the 2010-11 Serie B season.
Conte had a plea bargain deal rejected by the Italian federation (FIGC) earlier this month, a proposal which would have seen him serve a three-month suspension and pay a fine of 200,000 euros, and the federation have now confirmed the 10-month sanction.
Charges against Conte for direct involvement in match-fixing were dismissed last month, but the FIGC are satisfied he was aware it was taking place during his time with Siena.
His assistant coach at Juve and formerly at Siena, Angelo Alessio, has also been banned for eight months, while former Lecce president Giovanni Semeraro and former Grosseto president Piero Camilli are facing even longer suspensions.
Grosseto and Lecce have both been relegated from Serie B, the Italian second division, for the 2012-13 season for their part in the scandal, with both clubs’ former presidents banned for five years.
A statement from the FIGC read:
“(These are) the judgments issued today by the National Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Sergio Artico,in relation to two cases of match-fixing.
“Among the officials, the more severe penalties are those of the president of Grosseto, Camilli, and the former president of Lecce, Semeraro, (for both a five-year ban); the disqualification of 10 months for Antonio Conte, currently coach of Juventus, and for eight months his deputy Angelo Alessio.”
The FIGC also confirmed former Bari defender Nicola Belmonte has been banned from football for six months but six other players; Leonardo Bonucci, Simone Pepe, Marco di Vaio, Salvatore Masiello, Daniele Padelli and Giuseppe Vives, have been acquitted of the charges against them.
Juventus were quick to issue a statement on today’s announcement saying:
Following the verdicts given by the FIGC’s disciplinary committee regarding the involvement of Juventus employees in incidents while at other clubs, Juventus Football Club is extremely satisfied with the acquittal of footballers Leonardo Bonucci and Simone Pepe. Furthermore, the club underlines its full support for Antonio Conte and Angelo Alessio, in the hope that their innocence will emerge during the appeals process.
The coaches’ legal team, comprising professionals chosen by the interested parties themselves in complete agreement with the club, is already drawing up the grounds for appeal, in the firm belief that the coaches had no involvement in the matter.
