Giorgio Chiellini is one of the Juventus players who spoke to prosecutors about the bianconeri’s hidden payments to players during the covid-19 pandemic.
The defender was the club’s captain and coordinated the players as they negotiated to defer part of their salary while receiving hidden payments.
Prosecutors questioned him and most of his teammates, with a new report revealing that he admitted to the secret payment.
Football Italia reports that he had been reluctant to speak before being told about the importance of telling the truth.
The LAFC star later said, as quoted by the report:
“When the pandemic broke out, clearly a period of panic and economic hardship, I was asked to liaise with the rest of the group to deliver on the extraordinary moment that had been created.
“In March I started talking to my teammates to understand their willingness to face the problems that were at the club, especially solvency problems because all the net income was missing.”
Adding: “what was done was to give up four monthly payments for the club to breathe with the promise that when the season resumed, depending on what happened, a part would be returned.
“A part of the contracts would be readjusted based on how much we would play. This part would have oscillated between two and three months of salary”.
Juve FC says
Chiellini, like most Juventus players, found himself in a difficult position defending himself and the club and had to tell the truth.
The defender knows that if he lied, others could come clean, and it may have been a problem for him in the future. Therefore, he just opened up and said how is he.
We can hardly blame him for that. We just have to work to prove our innocence in this case.
