Luis Suarez
Italian police are investigating claims that Luis Suarez cheated in his Italian citizenship test in a bid to secure his transfer to Juventus.
Suarez flew to Perugia last week and passed a dual citizenship test in order to speed up his move to the Serie A giants.
Although that deal has now fallen through, Suarez could yet find himself in hot water after claims by Repubblica and Ansa that there were ‘irregularities’ in the test.
It has been reported that Suarez was sent the questions in advance and passed the Italian language (B1 level) exam having already been told the answers, with an investigation by the Guardia di Finanza now underway.
Repubblica carried quotes from an official on Monday, who said, “He does not speak a word of Italian. He does not conjugate verbs, he only speaks using the infinitive. If journalists would ask him some questions, he’d be lost. He earns €10million a year, he needs to pass this exam.”
The police are now said to be acquiring documentation from the University of Perugia, where Suarez’s test took place, and the player risks heavy legal action by the Public Prosecutor of Perugia.
In a statement from the Prosecutor, it was explained, “During the investigations delegated since February 2020 to the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Perugia, irregularities in the test of certification of the Italian language, carried out on September 17 last, by the Uruguayan footballer Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz.
“From the investigative activities it was found that the exam topics were previously agreed with the candidate and that the relative score was attributed even before the oral test was carried out, although it was found during the distance lessons held by the University teachers an elementary knowledge of the Italian language.”