Rome: Former Juventus bosses Luciano Moggi, Antonio Giraudo and Roberto Bettega were on Tuesday acquitted of any wrongdoing related to transfer dealings at the club.
The three had been accused of a variety of charges ranging from falsifying accounts, tax evasion and sporting fraud.
But Turin judge Dante Gibinel acquitted all three due to a “lack of evidence”.
Prosecutors had asked for a three-year custodial sentence for former chairman Giraudo and former director Moggi and two-years for former manager Bettega.
“It’s a great satisfaction,” said Moggi. “Because there was no evidence.
“I’m happy because what needed to come out, came out and that was that nothing had happened.”
Juventus were also aquitted of any wrongdoing despite having entered a plea bargain.
“Juventus is satisfied with the acquittal by the Turin court in relation to the false accounting trial,” said a club statement.
“Thanks to the defense strategies put forward by all the defendants during these years, finally the club’s proper conduct has been recognised.”
The case was one of many brought against various parties following the 2006 match-fixing calciopoli scandal that saw both Moggi and Giraudo banned from football-related activities for five years.
“This is a triumph of justice,” said one of the accused’s lawyers, Andrea Galasso.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 00:02