Marco Di Vaio has spoken in his defence at the betting trial, where he risks a year-long ban. “This is the most important match of my life.”
Marco Di Vaio has spoken in his defence at the betting trial, where he risks a year-long ban. “This is the most important match of my life.”
The Montreal Impact striker was pulled into the trial due to his time at Bologna, as the prosecution claims Andrea Masiello had an agreement with Daniele Portanova to fix Bari-Bologna, but that it all collapsed when Di Vaio rejected Portanova’s proposal.
Portanova and Di Vaio deny this happened, but Portanova risks a ban of over three years for sporting fraud, while Di Vaio risks a year for failing to alert authorities to a potential fix.
“I am rather emotional, because I am playing one of the most important matches of my life, if not the most important,” said Di Vaio in his defence at the Disciplinary Commission this morning.
“There is only one certainty, which is that I played with Andrea Masiello for six months at Genoa.
“He never referred to me in this situation and he could easily have done so, seeing as he has my phone number. He never contacted me, nor did he refer to me in his testimony.
“I talk about certainties, because so far all I’ve heard from prosecutor Stefano Palazzi are doubts and allegations. I cannot prove or disprove any of it.
“I ask only for certainties. I am a father, I have to look to my family and my employers. If I have to end my career, then I need to receive certainties and truth.
“Giving up football, which is my life, would be torture for me. I don’t want doubts and accusations based on hypotheses, just because I was the Bologna captain and had to decide for 18 other players.
“My only crime here was being the captain, which seems crazy to me. Palazzi has only doubts right now. That’s all I have to say, thank you.”