Breaking: Chelsea manager could face 6 months prison sentence
Apr 5, 2016 at 6:22 PM
Chelsea’s incoming manager Antonio Conte should be slapped with a 6-month suspended prison sentence in a hearing over sports fraud, according to the Cremona public prosecutor Roberto Di Martino.
The Italian manager is being investigated regarding his alleged failure to report the arrangement of Albinoleffe’s Serie B clash with his Siena team in back May 2011. The 46-year-old tactician, who will put an end to his two-year spell as Italy’s head coach after Euro 2016 in order to become the next Chelsea manager, is accused of being completely aware of a match-fixing agreement for that match, even though he was not directly involved in any kind of fixing.
After a preliminary investigation into that game, it has emerged that Antonio Conte was aware of an agreement to allow Albinoleffe to win – which they ultimately won 1-0 – if Siena did not require a positive result to be promoted. Ferdinando Coppola, who was Siena’s goalkeeper then but did not play the match revealed in his sports court hearing in 2013 Conte had “left it up to us to decide for ourselves.”
He said: “Conte reminded us that he wanted to finish top, but that if the team felt obliged to adhere to the agreement with Albinoleffe, he would let us get on with it.”
In addition to a six-month term, which would then only be a suspended sentence, Di Martino has suggested that Conte pays a fine of €8,000, according to a report from the ANSA news agency. The full hearing will take place in early to mid-May, when Di Martino’s suggestions will be debated along with the evidence and a final sentence will be given.
Conte however requested and obtained an accelerated process to enable him the opportunity to clear his name or learn of any sanctions ahead of Euro 2016, allowing him then to focus on his duties with the Italy national team.