|
|
01 May 2007 Italy and Livorno striker Cristiano Lucarelli has claimed he will join Fiorentina next season.
Lucarelli, 31, revealed his decision to join Livorno's Tuscany rivals at a conference at University College London.
"I am going to Fiorentina," said the much-travelled striker in remarks reported by Gazzetta.
Lucarelli, whose birthplace is Leghorn, only got to play for his boyhood favourites after spells with Perugia, Cosenza, Padova, Atalanta, Spanish club Valencia, Lecce and Torino.
Initially idolised by the supporters, Lucarelli recently announced he would leave Livorno, making it clear he was angry at the barracking the team was receiving from the fans.
If Lucarelli's Fiorentina claim is true would seem to confirm that Luca Toni is set to leave the Florence club, with Bayern Munich favourites to seal a deal for the World Cup winner.
Lucarelli has been the talismanic figure for Livorno since their promotion to the top flight in 2004 and in the 2004-5 season he finished "capocannoniere" (Italy's top scorer) with 24 goals.
Last year, Toni won that accolade with 31 goals for Fiorentina, the best tally by any Serie A player for 47 years. 24 February 2007 Juan Sebastian Veron and former Lazio President Sergio Cragnotti have been found not guilty in the trail over the player's illegally obtained passport.
The Argentine midfielder had begun proceedings to find an Italian relative so he could apply for an EU passport, but the legal team given this task tracked down a false link.
Former Lazio directors Felice Pulici, Bruno Costantini, Nello Governato and agents Gustavo Mascardi and Francisco Hildago were also cleared.
The judge in Rome did pass a guilty verdict on the officials who were in charge of the actual passport process, though.
Former worker in the Alvarez legal office in Buenos Aires, Elena Tedaldi, was given a suspended sentence of 15 months.
Gianfranco Orsomanso, who worked in the Fagnano Castello (Cosenza) council and falsely 'proved' Veron was related to an Italian who immigrated to Argentina in the last century, was given a five-month suspended sentence.
In May 2004, public prosecutor Lina Cusano had requested a two-year sentence for Cragnotti and 30-month punishment for Veron.
The player's Italian citizenship has also been cancelled. The passport was granted on September 9, 1999, and the investigation into irregularities began in the spring of 2000.
At the time, EU passports for South Americans were highly prized, as only three non-EU members were allowed in the Serie A line-up at any one time. |
|
