Juventus captain Del Piero gives evidence at Calciopoli trial

Juventus captain Alessandro del Piero gave evidence yesterday in the Calciopoli hearing.

The Bianconeri captain was called by Luciano Moggi’s defence team and made a passionate witness for just over an hour.

“I have played for Juve for over 16 years. How many trophies did I win? Some say 15, but for me it is 17,” he said referring to the two Scudetti revoked in 2006.

He was asked by the lawyer for former referee Massimo De Santis about the contested match with Lecce on November 14 2004.

“I remember, I scored in that game. The state of the pitch made things very difficult. I think De Santis examined the turf before kick-off, as I remember we talked about the conditions.

“In my view it was possible to play. Before the game I and the Lecce captain spoke to the referee. The general attitude from the start was to go ahead.

“Our team was built to be strong under every aspect, though admittedly those weren’t the ideal conditions for a technical side.

“In general De Santis had always been relaxed with the players and spoke to them all in a very friendly manner.”

Del Piero made his position on the Calciopoli scandal very clear.

“I think every side that won the Scudetto in my time as a player has deserved it, including Juventus.

“In 2006 we topped the table with 91 points. The many goals scored by myself, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Trezeguet in those years were ours, not gifted to us by referees.

“We could score aside from penalties and the statistics prove that. We had so many champions in the side, nine of them in the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France.”

 
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