The chats and phone calls at the centre of the Luis Suarez ‘rigged’ Italian test

Italian investigators will reportedly examine the emails, laptop and mobile phone of a lawyer hired by Juventus amid claims she promised to have potential signings take their Italian citizenship test at the University for Foreigners of Perugia in future if they allowed Luis Suarez to pass.

Suárez was rumored to be on the verge of a transfer to the Italian club Juventus, which has already reached its limit of non-European Union players.

Investigators opened the inquiry into the citizenship application by the Barcelona striker Luis Suárez, who is Uruguayan, claiming that his Italian-language test was rigged, allowing him to go through the entire process much faster.

New York Times reports “becoming Italian is usually a lengthy undertaking. The paperwork requires evidence of family links and police checks, as well as proof of the ability to speak Italian to an acceptable level. The process often takes years. But not, it seems, if you are a star professional soccer player.”

Tapped phone calls between Maria Turco, a lawyer hired by the Serie A champions, and an official at the University for Foreigners of Perugia allegedly contain them negotiating over passing the Uruguayan striker, and what the university would get in return, reported the Daily Mail.

According to new WhatsApp Chats and telephone tappings revealed today on Corriere Della Sera the agreement also saw the possibility of transfer of players from the youth sector of Juventus, to play in Perugia. They also revealed that those involved said that the Covid-19 situation, would make this more possible.

The apparent efforts to fast-track Suárez’s application have prompted fury from those forced to go through the regular, often long process, and have dragged elements of Italy’s immigration regulations under the spotlight.

According to a statement on Tuesday from Raffaele Cantone, the chief prosecutor in the Italian city of Perugia, the home of the university that administered Suárez’s language exam, the player’s test showed irregularities.

The topics covered were “pre-emptively agreed with the candidate, and the relative score was attributed even before its execution,” the statement said. Suárez was awarded a grade high enough to satisfy the citizenship requirements despite his teachers having noted an “elementary knowledge of the Italian language” during his online classes, investigators added.

The University in the Italian city of Perugia has said it followed “correct procedures” after authorities announced an investigation into whether it helped Suárez cheat in an Italian language exam.

Much fanfare was made of his trip to Perugia last week, with the local airport issuing a statement boasting about the VIP passengers who had recently passed through.