Several financial misconduct issues have occurred in the Italian Serie A over the past few years. The football body in Italy is strictly against financial misconduct and doesn’t hesitate to hand out big punishments for perpetrators. Not too long ago, Juventus faced a big punishment, suffering point deductions and lengthy bans for their directors.
And it looks like Napoli CEO Aurelio De Laurentiis may be the next to face a big judgment after being accused of mishandling the club’s finances. If proven guilty, Napoli’s financial saviour could face severe consequences.
Who is Napoli CEO Aurelio De Laurentiis?
Aurelio De Laurentiis made a name for himself as a film producer through his production company, Filmauro. Born in 1949 in Rome, Italy, De Laurentiis followed in the footsteps of his uncle, Dino De Laurentiis, a famous film producer. Through his production company, De Laurentiis produced some of the biggest movies in Italy in the late 70s and 80s, including Vacanze di Natale, Maccheroni, and Huevos de Oro.
The Rome native broke into Hollywood when he was convinced to finance the popular movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, starring Angelina Jolie. The movie, whilst gaining global recognition, flopped at the box office as it only grossed $58 million against a budget of $70 million, most of which came from De Laurentiis.
In 2004, Napoli was struggling with bankruptcy, leading to relegation to the third tier of Italian football. De Laurentiis stepped in to save the club. After he bought the club with the vision of returning them to the top flight, Napoli was back where they belonged three years later.
Under De Laurentiis’ ownership, Napoli has spent the past decade in European football, and finally won the Serie A in the 2022–23 season, thanks to Victor Osimhen’s courage in front of goals.
Napoli CEO Aurelio De Laurentiis is reportedly under investigation for financial misconduct
Italian football frowns at corruption, which explains their strict rules against them and the big punishments dished out to anyone found guilty of breaking them. Aurelio De Laurentiis has become the subject of a tense investigation into the possibility of financial misconduct.
According to reports, De Laurentiis has been placed on the suspect list on charges of false accounting. The club president is accused of falsifying accounting records to improve capital gains in the deal that brought Victor Osimhen to Napoli from Lille in 2020.
Will De Laurentiis walk free from these allegations? Tell us what you think in the comments.
