Italy coach Antonio Conte is due in court to face match-fixing allegations on April 4 but should know his fate before Euro 2016 begins, Italian media said on Wednesday
Rome: Italy coach Antonio Conte is due in court to face match-fixing allegations on April 4 but should know his fate before Euro 2016 begins, Italian media said on Wednesday.
The 46-year-old, rumoured to be a target for Chelsea to take over from Guus Hiddink at the end of this season, is accused of having failed to denounce an attempt to fix a match while coach of then-second division Siena against Albinoleffe in May 2011. He has already served a four-month ban handed down by the Italian Football Federation in 2012 after being found guilty of the charge by a sporting court -- his sentence was reduced from 10 months on appeal.
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Conte, who was Juventus coach at the time of his conviction but was supported by his employers, did not want to head to Euro 2016 with the criminal charge brought by a court in Cremona still hanging over his head.
His lawyers asked for a shortened trial -- a decision is due by around mid-May, according to Italian press reports -- in order to find out before the Euros whether or not he will face a further sanction. Conte has always denied any knowledge of the deal between players to fix the match, which his Siena side won 1-0, the same year they were promoted to Serie A and Conte earnt a move to Juve, the club he graced as a player for 13 years.
The calcioscommesse (football-betting) scandal broke in June 2011 and has seen many well-known figures from football serve bans for match-fixing, such as former Italy internationals Giuseppe Signori and Cristiano Doni. Around 100 people are still awaiting trial accused with various roles in the vast corruption scandal.
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