Tottenham Hotspur release official statement on Fabio Paratici’s ban
FIFA have extended the scope of Fabio Paratici’s 30-month ban to include football activities beyond Italy, as per Sky Sports. This has now been confirmed by the club, which would have come as a blow to everyone associated with the club.
Paratici was handed a 30-month ban from conducting footballing activities within the Italian football federation in January. This ruling by an Italian court also saw 11 other officials banned and the club docked 15 points from their league tally this season.
The investigation pertains to alleged financial malpractices at Juventus between 2019 and 2021. The scope of Paratici’s ban remains to be seen. Sky Sports claims that Paratici can work internally at Spurs and attend meetings.
But he won’t be allowed to conduct transfer dealings, negotiations, and talking to agents. That’s a large part of his job. Amidst all this chaos, when Spurs and Paratici should have been looking for a replacement for Antonio Conte, the club has a new matter to deal with. They have now released an official statement on the club website, an excerpt of which reads:
Following media reports today regarding the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decision to extend worldwide the sanction imposed by the FIGC Federal Court of Appeals on Fabio Paratici on 20 January 2023, the Club made urgent enquiries to FIFA.
FIFA has late this afternoon responded to us in writing notifying us today, Wednesday 29 March 2023, that a decision has been made by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to extend the FIGC sanction worldwide.”
Tottenham caught by surprise
Spurs were also quick to clarify that Paratici’s interview with club media earlier this week was done without any knowledge of FIFA expanding the Spurs DOF’s ban. That is a necessary way of making it clear that the club undertook the interview without any idea of what was to follow.
That is understandable. This is a delicate legal matter. Paratici and the other officials being investigated in this matter deny any wrongdoing. The ban has also been appealed which will undoubtedly be crucial to Paratici’s future here.
30 months of no footballing activities here would render his post useless to a large extent. Perhaps a new employee could be sought. Paratici has done a stellar job since being appointed by Daniel Levy.
But this is a very important time for the club. Such matters will only deflect our attention and resources from addressing the issues of finding a new manager and strengthening the team in multiple positions.
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Paratici was obviously going to be a big part of such searches. The club statement hasn’t provided any new information and only went on to add that they are seeking further clarity on the scope of the ban. Let’s see what happens now.
