NAPLES – The capital gains scandal rocking Napoli has been enriched with new chapters. Following the publication by Republic of emails and wiretaps on the affair osimhenA more detailed picture of the background emerges, but without any new sporting implications for the club. Aurelio De Laurentiis's position is different, as he faces criminal proceedings on charges of false accounting.
The first preliminary hearing, initially scheduled for September, has been postponed to November 6. The Rome Public Prosecutor's Office aims to clarify the methods used to account for the purchases of Victor Osimhen and Kostas Manolas, believing that the transactions produced fictitious capital gains in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 financial years.
The investigation remains centered on the 2020 Osimhen deal: €70 million, including the transfer to Lille of Orestis Karnezis and three Primavera players—Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi, and Ciro Palmieri—valued at a total of €20 million. According to the Guardia di Finanza, Napoli initially set a €50 million cap for the Nigerian striker, but Lille president Gérard Lopez was aiming for €70 million.
The email exchange: "This way you pay Osimhen less."
The wiretaps reveal delicate negotiations and email exchanges in which Lopez proposed bringing in other players to make up the difference: “This allows you to pay a lower price than any other club but with the nominal value necessary to close”, we read in a message considered crucial.
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On July 17, Lille made the decisive offer to close the deal: to bring in Orestis Karnezis, 35 years old at the time and paid by Napoli for just €2,5 million two years earlier, with a valuation of €20 million. “At this point it is important that there is no communication about the price, it would make us all look bad”, wrote French president Gérard Lopez in an email filed in the court records. The wiretaps also reveal a message from Giuseppe Pompilio, then Napoli's deputy sporting director, to Cristiano Giuntoli: "You don't have to write anything. No traces are left in emails. Say whatever you want orally."
Karnezis's value, originally set at €20 million, was later lowered to €5 million thanks to the inclusion of the three youngsters, valued between €4 and €7 million each. However, the players told the Guardia di Finanza that they had never played in France or had a medical with Lille. According to investigators, their values were inflated to reach the figure requested by the French club. From a sporting perspective, however, nothing will change. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) had already closed the case last April: federal prosecutor Giuseppe Chinè saw no reason to reopen the proceedings, after examining the documents from the Rome Prosecutor's Office.
Napoli had been challenged under Articles 4, 6, and 31 of the Code of Sports Justice, but the club was acquitted in two levels of proceedings, thus ruling out any possibility of a penalty or points deducted from the standings. De Laurentiis, through his lawyers, expressed his calm and confident in justice, reiterating that “Napoli has always made respect for the rules a cornerstone of its management.”
Comments (1)
The article discusses capital gains and the Napoli case, but it's unclear whether there are any real consequences for the club. The wiretaps are unclear and leave unanswered questions, as the role of young players is unclear.