👨‍⚖️ Napoli on trial over alleged false accounting | OneFootball

The investigating judge in Rome has sent the president of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, to trial for falsification of accounts related to the financial statements of 2019, 2020, and 2021. Reports ANSA.

In addition to the president, the judge has charged his right-hand man, Andrea Chiavelli, and the football club. The judicial process focuses on the alleged fictitious capital gains derived from the sale of defender Kostas Manolas to Roma in the summer of 2019 and the purchase of forward Victor Osimhen from French club Lille in 2020.

Naples, the figures of the Osimhen operation

The signing of Victor Osimhen by Napoli has already sparked debate on several occasions. Specifically, the agreement included, in addition to goalkeeper Oreste Karnezis, three young prospects from the Neapolitan academy: Claudio Manzi, Ciro Palmieri, and Luigi Liguori (the first two born in 2000 and the third in 1998). According to Napoli's financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, the value of the three ranged between 4 and 7 million euros (Karnezis's value exceeded 5 million).

What were the real figures of the Osimhen signing, according to the 2021 financial statements? The player was acquired by the Neapolitan club for €76,356,819. At the same time, De Laurentiis's club sold the four mentioned players to Lille, obtaining a total gain of almost 20 million euros. Here are the complete figures:

Naples, the figures of the Manolas operation

How was the transfer of Manolas structured? What are the figures of the agreement? The player joined Napoli on June 30, 2019, the last day Roma could record a significant capital gain in their financial statements for the 2018/19 season and thus comply with UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations. Manolas was sold for 36 million euros and generated, according to official financial data, a capital gain of 31.1 million euros.

The player was with Napoli for two and a half seasons before the Neapolitan club sold him to Olympiacos in the winter market of the 2021/22 season. The Greek club paid Napoli 1.5 million euros, forcing the club to record a capital loss of 5.7 million euros in their accounts that season.

The transfer of Manolas from Roma to Napoli is closely linked to the one that took midfielder Amadou Diawara in the opposite direction. The player born in 1997 joined Roma for 21 million euros, and his time there ended after three seasons when he was sold to Anderlecht for 1.89 million euros, generating a depreciation of 7.27 million euros in Roma's accounts.

The statement from Napoli

This is how Napoli defended itself: "SSCN expresses its dismay at the accusation issued by the investigating judge in Rome. All technical reports, prepared by experts, have unequivocally demonstrated the legality of the club's actions, both in terms of the financial information of the transactions and the transfers of players. The prosecution itself rightly acknowledged in its final arguments that SSCN did not obtain any benefit from the contested transactions.

The club remains calm and confident regarding the outcome of the judicial process, which will begin in more than a year — with the first hearing scheduled for December 2, 2026 — where the truth will be clarified. It is worth noting that, concerning an identical accusation derived from the same investigation file, the Milan prosecution has already requested the dismissal of the case against Inter."

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

📸 MARCO BERTORELLO