Serie A

CRISTIANO RONALDO’S brother is being investigated for fraud, according to reports.
It is claimed Hugo Dinarte Aveiro – ten years older than the five-time Ballon d’Or winner – ordered the production of 13,000 fake replica jerseys.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s brother Hugo Dinarte Aveiro is allegedly being investigated for fraudCredit: Getty – Contributor

According to La Stampa and La Repubblica newspapers, via Football Italia, the Mussara company – owned by the Juventus star and run by his brother – ordered special edition jerseys to be manufactured.
The reports add that Pegaso, a Turin company, were commissioned with the project.
They were to be paid £450,000 for the production of the shirts which were completed with the CR7Museu logo – Ronaldo’s museum.
It is then alleged that Mussara denied ever giving Pegaso permission to go ahead and begin production of the fake replica jerseys.

They are thought to be exact copies of Adidas’ designs.
The German brand have made Juventus’ kits since 2015 and are under A £46million-a-year contract with the Serie A giants until 2027.
The report adds Mussara demanded Pegaso hand over the shirts for £3.60 each in order for them to be destroyed.
However, Pegaso believe they spotted the very same products on sale at the Cristiano Ronaldo Museum in Madeira for £36 each.

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As a result, Pegaso are understood to be suing Mussara with Hugo Dinarte Aveiro among those being looked into for any possible wrongdoing.
Torino Corriere also report that there is a legal dispute between Mussara and Juventus over the use of legal rights to Ronaldo’s trademark.

It is claimed the Mussara company commissioned fake replica jerseys which are identical in design to Adidas’ kit designCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Pegaso believe the jerseys are on sale at the Cristiano Ronaldo Museum in Madeira for ten times the price they were paidCredit: AFP – Getty

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FORMER Chelsea manager Antonio Conte wants to reunite with N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud at Inter Milan, according to reports.
The Italian was at the helm when both were brought to Stamford Bridge.

Antonio Conte enjoyed great success with N’Golo Kante in his midfieldCredit: Hannah McKay

The Italian also brought Olivier Giroud to the clubCredit: REUTERS

Conte, 51, won the Premier League title with Kante in the middle of his midfield – while he signed Giroud just months before his exit.
In his bid to win another Serie A title, however, he could look to pounce once again for BOTH when the window reopens in January.
According to Tuttosport, Conte will reprise his previous interest in the French duo, in order to try and cut the five-point gap to AC Milan at the top of Serie A.
Giroud, 34, has once again fallen into a bit-part role at Chelsea this season, having forced his way into the starting XI towards the end of last term.

The former Arsenal man stole the show in mid-week, however, smashing four goals past Sevilla to remind clubs around the continent of his ability.
His contract expires at the end of the season, as his previous deal did last season.
And he is under pressure from national team boss Didier Deschamps to be playing regular football, ahead of the delayed Euro 2020.
Giroud recently netted his 44th France goal, putting him just seven strikes behind Thierry Henry’s total for Les Bleus.

Giroud, 34, is desperate to feature for his country next summerCredit: AFP or licensors

But his place may still be in jeopardy.
As for Kante, the 29-year-old still has two-and-a-half years remaining on his contract.
And Chelsea are extremely reluctant to sell the midfielder, who remains a pivotal cog in their machine as they chase a Premier League title under Frank Lampard.
So it would take a huge bid to prise him from their grasp.
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BOLOGNA boss Sinisa Mihajlovic has furiously vowed to catch a ‘spy’ within his squad.
The Serbian previously suspected a mole, leaking crucial tactical information to the press.

Mihajlovic’s side currently sit tenth in the tableCredit: The Mega Agency

So he decided to put on a behind-closed-doors session for the players, introducing them to a system that he had no intention of using.
And when details of the session subsequently made their way into the Italian press, he furiously declared that he will find the culprit, before ‘sticking him to the wall’.
Mihajlovic, 51, said: “I only tried out a new formation to find out who the f*** is talking to journalists.
“I did it on purpose because no one was expecting it, so now I’m investigating.

“I swear, if I find who’s been speaking with journalist I’m sticking him to the wall.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t play again.
“I’m not actually thinking of changing the tactical set-up, I only did it because we were alone, and today everything’s come out in the papers.
“So there’s someone on the inside who talking, and I assure that I’ll find him.

Scottish full-back Aaron Hickey plays for BolognaCredit: The Mega Agency

“And when I find him, things will get ugly.”
Bologna, who have Scottish full-back Aaron Hickey among their ranks, face Inter Milan this evening at San Siro.
And it certainly sounds as if Mihajlovic is planning on sticking with his trusty 4-2-3-1 formation.

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NAPOLI have officially renamed their famous San Paolo home Stadio Diego Armando Maradona – in honour of their greatest ever player.
The Argentine legend died aged 60 on November 25, sending the football world into mourning.

Napoli’s home has been renamed in Diego Maradona’s honourCredit: Reuters

The Argentine is Napoli’s greatest ever playerCredit: Getty Images – Getty

And no club was more touched than Napoli, for whom he inspired to win two Serie A titles, a Uefa Cup and Coppa Italia during a stunning seven-year spell.
In revealing his plans to try and make the change last week, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis admitted that he’s been trying to do so for the last 17 years.
He told Sky Italia: “I’ve been in talks with local authorities for the past 17 years, I have always asked to buy the stadium and rename it ‘Diego Armando Maradona’.
“If then, for tradition, we will need to call it both ‘San Paolo’ and ‘Maradona’ so be it.

“It won’t change much, but it’s only right that Maradona has this recognition.
“Even if we were to build a whole new stadium, I would name it like that.”
In total, Maradona played 259 times for the Italian club, scoring a then-record 115 times, and was named captain.
Thousands of devastated fans took to the streets of Naples on the evening of his passing, to pay respects to their hero.

Napoli paid tribute to Maradona during their November 26 clash with RijekaCredit: Getty Images – Getty

The next day, Napoli paid their own tribute, with all 11 players wearing ‘Maradona 10’ on the back of their jerseys.
And Lorenzo Insigne placed flowers outside the ground before the match.
Now at least, the famous old ground will wear the name of the greatest player to ever grace it.

Fans lined the streets of Naples on the evening of Maradona’s deathCredit: AFP or licensors

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LUIS SUAREZ did ‘cheat’ on a ‘farce’ Italian language exam required for obtaining Italian citizenship and joining Juventus, a police investigation has found.
The Uruguayan arrived at the University of Perugia in order to sit the exam, ahead of his then-mooted move to Juve from Barcelona.

Suarez arrived in Perugia to sit the exam in SeptemberCredit: EPA

Suarez, 33, passed the exam before a cheat row erupted.
And after more than two months, an investigation has found that Suarez had been ‘communicated in advance’ the contents of the paper.
Three professors and the director of the university, Simone Olivieri, have now been suspended for eight months.
The report concludes that they were guilty of: “Coming to predetermine the outcome and the score of the exam, to correspond to the requests that they had been put forward by Juventus, with the aim of achieving a positive return of image, both personal and for the university.”

According to Di Marzio, members of Juventus are also under investigation by Italian police.
And the probe found that Juve officials had ‘taken action, even at the highest institutional levels, to accelerate the recognition of Italian citizenship towards Suarez’.
The former Liverpool star had been aiming to secure citizenship through his wife Sofia Balbi, who has Italian ancestry.
Amid the cheating row, Suarez’s move to Juventus subsequently fell through.

Suarez joined later Atletico MadridCredit: EPA

And the Barcelona outcast joined Atletico Madrid on September 23, signing a two-year contract.
Four staff members of the University of Perugia have been suspended amid the investigation.
These punishments have been dished out for the ‘crimes of disclosure of office secrecy aimed at undue financial gain and multiple ideological falsehoods in public documents’.
The attorney general for the University of Perugia, however, ‘affirmed that Juventus also activated at the highest institutional levels for the exam of Suarez’.

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ARSENAL chiefs have been left furious at their decision to let Ismael Bennacer leave in 2017.
The midfielder had arrived in North London two years earlier as a prodigious 17-year-old from Arles.

Bennacer has become a regular fixture in AC Milan’s midfieldCredit: AP:Associated Press

But he was allowed to depart with just one first-team game under his belt.
Following two years with Empoli, that included a Serie B title winner’s medal, Bennacer joined AC Milan for around £14million.
This term the Algerian has stunned with his brilliant performances at the heart of Stefano Pioli’s table-topping midfield.
And according to Calciomercato, Gunners chiefs ‘don’t understand how it was possible’ to let him go without bringing back from Empoli – as they’d had the option to do so.

Bennacer’s one and only appearance came in a 3-0 League Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in 2015.
And he recently revealed that Arsene Wenger didn’t even play him in the right position.
He told Sportweek: “I arrived in England in July. The first two months I stayed in the hotel because I didn’t want to go and live with a family I didn’t know.
“I was 17, I wasn’t of age and couldn’t live alone, so my sister came to stay with me.

The Algerian was predominantly limited to reserves football at ArsenalCredit: Getty – Contributor

“Then I was joined by Chaines, with whom I had been engaged since school and who would become my wife in England.
In September, finally, I played my first game. In the League Cup, against Sheffield Wednesday.
“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got injured, Theo Walcott was brought on in his place and after two minutes he gets injured too, so Wenger throws me on.
“The problem is that he puts me wide left in the front three, it’s a role I’ve never played before.
“I felt a crazy pressure on me. I lost a few balls, but I recovered a few.”
Bennacer, 23, then opened up on his eventual Gunners departure.

I still had a four-year contract with Arsenal, but I went where they really wanted me
Ismael Bennacer

He continued: “After that I didn’t play anymore, but I have no regrets. I trained with important players like Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla.
“I still had a four-year contract with Arsenal, but I went where they really wanted me.
“I didn’t know Empoli but I accepted to go down from the Premier League to the Italian Serie B because that was the club that wanted me most of all.
“The reason why I went to AC Milan, I chose them for their history, but even more because his project was the best for me.”
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