Antonio Conte cleared of Match fixing charges: A huge relief for Chelsea!
May 16, 2016 at 9:03 PM
In a trial held in Cremona, today morning (Monday), future Chelsea boss and current Italian international coach Antonio Conte has been cleared of the match-fixing charges he faced. In a case regarding allegations of a probable match-fixing scandal, which took place in the year of 2011 when Antonio Conte managed the Seria B club Siena in Italy, Antonio was one of the defendants. He wasn’t actually blamed for the match-fixing issue, but of a failure in providing the report of the alleged match-fixing, which took place at the Italian club. But shockingly, Conte wasn’t even there at the trial.
“It was a full acquittal. What matters is that for him, this story is over. We talked to Conte on the phone and he was very happy.”
-Francesco Arata, defense counsel; source: Sky
The prosecutor Roberto di Martino’s claims were that Conte should serve a six-month ban as well as pay over £6,000 as a fine. But Antonio had already served a four-month suspension in his 2012-13 season due to similar charges regarding another match during his managerial career at Siena, which was acquitted by a judge – Pierpaolo Beluzzi. According to the judge, the sporting fraud allegations on Antonio were baseless, hence freeing the future Chelsea coach of all charges seemed to be the best option for him.
“I am highly satisfied with the court’s acquittal of Antonio Conte. Finally, his position has been clarified and my confidence in him has never been in question. Now we are all the more focused on the Euros.”
-Carlo Tavecchio; FIGC present; source: Sky
Undoubtedly a great relief for Chelsea as well, and the manager can now focus on restructuring the Chelsea squad for the next season as well. Chelsea shouldn’t have appointed Conte while he was not cleared of his previous charges, but that won’t matter, the gamble has paid off and all we can do is wait for the upcoming season.