Aurelio De Laurentiis has said that the League (Serie A) are ‘wrong for wanting to speak up and distract’ teams like Napoli in response to questions over an investigation into alleged false accounting.
On Friday, it was reported that an investigation into alleged false accounting had been concluded, which could potentially lead to a trial for De Laurentiis. The incident in question relates to Napoli’s signing of Victor Osimhen for a reported €71m fee in 2020.
Napoli are believed to have paid Osimhen’s former club Lille an upfront fee of €50m, with the remaining €21m raised through the sales of four largely unknown players in Ciro Palmieri, Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi and Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.
De Laurentiis’ lawyer confirmed in an interview on Saturday that his client has received notification of the investigation’s conclusion, but assured readers that ADL has not been indicted.
De Laurentiis himself was interviewed by SportMediaset reporters on Saturday, where he was unwilling to provide any major updates on the investigation, but did suggest that the League are attempting to distract Napoli.
“The League is wrong for wanting to speak up and distract the championship,” De Laurentiis said.
“The league, the federation, FIFA and UEFA are looking to belittle and minimise the true value for the fans, which is the local, national championship.”
“For the rest, I don’t feel like talking about it,” De Laurentiis said before being chauffeured away in his car.
Prior to his questioning on the investigation into the Osimhen deal, De Laurentiis also spoke about Napoli’s current form on the pitch and the efforts of coach Walter Mazzarri.
“I’ve always been convinced that Napoli were a good Napoli. You also have to give time to Mazzarri.
“Every coach has his own method, which he must also be able to convey to the team and therefore you can’t expect things to change immediately, because that doesn’t always happen.”
AdL: "Sempre stato convinto che fosse un bel Napoli, diamo tempo a Mazzarri" #delaurentiis #napoli https://t.co/tKTHFKXwAi
— SportMediaset.it (@sportmediaset) January 20, 2024