The entire football world should well be aware by now that controversy and Luis Suarez are happy bedfellows.
Being deliberately getting sent off for handball at a World Cup, biting opponents more than once with the venal thirst of a transylvannian bat, being found guilty of hurling racial abuse at Patrice Evra in his early Liverpool days – these are some of the more unsavory incidents the Uruguay striker has been seminal in over the past decade.
It was announced Tuesday that the Italian authorities are conducting investigations on the 33-year-old for possibly having cheated to pass his Italian language test with the help of his teachers in Perugia.
The Italian exam was a first step prerequisite to receive a passport ahead of a potential transfer to Juventus, a move which has since been abandoned, from Barcelona.
Suarez flew into Perugia to take the test ahead of a possible transfer from Barcelona to Juventus and passed the ‘B1’ assignment.
As Juventus currently have no remaining spots for non-EU players in their squad, the Uruguay striker would have needed to become an Italian citizen to make the move to the Allianz Stadium. The striker’s spouse is an Italian national.
Italian financial police and the Perugia Prosecutor’s Office are looking at claims Suarez may have had prior knowledge of the contents of the exam, allowing the result to have been predetermined.
As yet, there has been no direct accusation of wrongdoing towards any individual and no charges have been pressed.
A statement from the Perugia Prosecutor’s Office reads:
“During the investigation started in February 2020 by Perugia’s finance police on different matters within the university for foreigners in Perugia, some irregularities have emerged on the test on Italian language faced by the Uruguayan footballer Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz on September 17th to obtain the Italian nationality (passport).
“From the investigation it has emerged that the subjects of the test had been previously agreed with the candidate and that the mark had been decided in advance despite the fact that, during the online Italian lessons made by the university teachers, the player had shown just a basic knowledge of the Italian language.
“Today the military corps of the finance police are seizing documents in the offices of the university to ascertain the abovementioned misbehaviours and to deliver the warranty information for the crimes of violation of official secrecy and ideological falsity committed in public acts by the public official and others.”
Suarez is unlikely to move to Juve and is on the verge of confirming the deal with Athletico Madrid, with Italian champions Juventus reported to have struck a deal to secure the return of their former striker Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid instead .