the investigation into the questionable transfers of Inter Milan widens, around sixty targeted operations

Still first in the Serie A standings despite a last defeat against AC Milan last weekend, Inter Milan sees justice questioning certain transfers made. A few months ago, Juventus had seen an investigation be opened for having communicated false information on transactions.

The investigation targeting Inter Milan for possible accounting fraud during player transfers expanded on Tuesday with the seizure of new documents at the headquarters of the Italian Football Federation.

Investigators from the Italian police’s financial brigade seized documents relating to around 60 operations that took place between 2019 and 2021 from the Federation’s Financial Supervisory Commission (Covisoc), according to the Italian press agencies Ansa and AGI.

This operation, confirmed to AFP by a spokesperson for the Federation, is part of the investigations launched at the end of 2021 by the Italian justice system. Inter Milan, after searches at the club’s headquarters in December, had indicated « having provided the required documentation relating to the transfers of certain players during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons » at the request of the Milan prosecutor’s office.

Capital gains that challenge

The prosecution wishes to « verify the regularity of the recognition of the capital gains » generated by these sales, had specified Inter. This investigation was opened only a few weeks after another targeting Juventus Turin, suspected of having communicated false information to investors and of having produced invoices for non-existent transactions, according to the Turin public prosecutor’s office.

For several years, many observers in Italy have been pointing to the abuse of a legal practice, aimed at carrying out « false exchanges », i.e. cross-selling of players between two clubs. Little money is then actually paid by the clubs, but any capital gains made can be immediately accounted for, making it possible to improve financial performance.

In the case of Inter, the investigators would be interested, among other things, in the significant capital gains generated by the substitute goalkeeper Ionut Radu or the striker Andrea Pinamonti (currently on loan at Empoli) within the framework of exchanges with Genoa, according to Ansa. The Italian Federation is considering measures to try to limit abuse.