An Italian prosecutor plans to bring a criminal
case against England coach Fabio Capello for allegedly withholding
information in a corruption trial.
He was a witness in the trial of six men accused of conspiring
to control transfers by intimidating players into signing for a
sports management firm.
The state prosecutor believes he was evasive in the evidence he
gave.
Mr Capello's lawyers said he was certain "he had given all the
information required of him". <!-- E SF -->
They said they were confident "everything will soon be
completely cleared".
In a statement, they said: "Mr Capello made it clear that he has
never been involved in the conclusion of professional football
players' contracts, and has only limited and indirect knowledge of
this subject."
Newspaper interview
The court case, which is ongoing, relates to the GEA World
sports agency.
The former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, who was at
the centre of Italy's match-fixing scandal in 2006, and Davide
Lippi, son of the former Italy coach Marcello, are among the
defendants.
The England coach worked under Mr Moggi at Juventus until 2006,
but it was his time in charge of Roma between 1999 and 2004 which
most interested the court.
In court, he denied having been put under pressure over the
management of players during his time at Juventus and Roma.
Mr Capello, 61, was also asked about an interview he gave to the
Corriere dello Sport newspaper about GEA and their alleged monopoly
of players.
In that interview the coach said he knew many players were
"gravitating towards that company".
Poor recollection
But when asked further in court about the interview, and details
he had given in the initial inquiry, the England coach was less
forthcoming.
Mr Capello is not thought to have lied, but the prosecutor
believes he was evasive and at times obstructive in the evidence he
gave.
At times he said he could not remember or recall specific
details.
The prosecutor said he would now seek to bring a new case of
withholding information against both Mr Capello and Antonio
Giraudo, a former Juventus director, who also gave evidence.<!--
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