It has been revealed by Italian newspaper Il Giornale that new England boss Fabio Capello is under investigation for evading tax. Coming merely weeks after his appointment, understandably the FA have tried to play the matter down.
No sums have been mentioned, but it is believed that Turin public prosecutor, Raffaele Guariniello has for some months been looking in secrecy at transactions surrounding sponsorship payments made to Capello through his Guernsey based Capello Family Trust.
The investigations centre on the time Capello was in charge of Italian club Juventus, and are thought to be linked to the infamous "Moggiopoli" scandal, which rocked Italian football in 2006. During the prosecution, details of bribes paid to referees were uncovered and Juventus were demoted to Serie B after being found guilty of match fixing and bribing referees.
Although Capello was not implicated in the probe, its investigations appear to have uncovered a complex series of payments made via offshore companies set up by himself and his sons Pierfillipo and Eduardo.
Pierfillipo said such investigations happen all the time in Italy.
"The only reason this is news is because my father is the new England boss and as such he is high profile," he said.
The circumstances can not be anything other than embarrassing for the FA even though they do not involve directly his England duties. However, the 61-year old manager has sought to reassure Soho Square chiefs that his tax payments are in order. Indeed spokesman Adrian Bevington stated that the FA has been aware of the probe for some time.
"It's our understanding that the Italian tax authorities are currently following a procedure of looking into the finances of numerous high profile individuals" he said.
"We have spoken to Fabio and his advisors about the newspapers reports in Italy and they've explained the facts."
"They have also given their assurances that Fabio's tax payments are in order. The FA has no further comment."
Capello's first match in charge of England is on February 6 against Switzerland. The FA will be hoping this latest scandal does not affect the teams performance. by Julian Shaw, 16 January 2008
