• Judgment: The 36 players accused of the size of the Levante-Zaragoza have been cleared
  • Opinion: A step back against fraud

In May 2011, 1.7 million euros left the Zaragoza accounts . That is proven . But, eight years later, it has not been possible to prove that this money ended up in the pockets of the Levante players for being lost on May 21 of that year to Zaragoza. The head of the Criminal Court number 7 of Valencia, Manuel Aleis , sentenced Monday, then, that there was no adjustment in the Levante-Zaragoza of the 2010/11 academic year. The reason? No one has been able to prove otherwise throughout the trial .

The magistrate, in the sentence, is dismantling one by one the accusations of the Prosecutor, LaLiga and Deportivo for which 36 players of both teams, the former coach and former sports director of Zaragoza, and four managers sat on the bench . All of them have been acquitted of the crime of sports corruption ; not so Agapito Iglesias and Javier Porquera , former president and former financial director of the club maño, sentenced to one year and three months in prison for a crime of falsehood in a private document. The judge considers it proven that they falsified payrolls "to hide or conceal the true destiny" of money.

The judge considers it proven that he left Zaragoza's accounts. 965,000 euros in transfers to nine players, the coach and the sports director and another 765,000 in cash , as collected as the only proof a promissory note signed by Captain Gabi Fernández .. All before May 21, 2011 , the date on which the match was played.

The club leaders justified throughout the process that they were allocated to bonuses to certain players for their special performance and "very special" bonuses paid in advance and in cash to the players for the permanence in First. The judge does not believe that version: "It is incongruous that, in view of the serious economic situation of the club, almost a million euros were agreed to be delivered in advance to various components of the workforce." Nor does it find "any plausible explanation for the fact that - if it is not an opaque operation - the amounts are transferred in a fractional manner, on consecutive days."

He is credible with the version of all processed Zaragoza players, who assured that they had not received cash and that, in the case of transfers, they took the money and returned it to Agapito Iglesias quickly and following his instructions. "It distorts the thesis that it was the payment of a premium, since, had it been so, there was no need, nor haste, to dispose of said amounts in cash that would normally have remained in the accounts of its recipients," he adds. .

A LOT OF MONEY, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE

Where did the money end up? That is the great unknown that leaves the process. In fact, the magistrate slides that there is another “reasonable alternative hypothesis” to the adjustment that LaLiga wanted to present with an extension of the complaint that was rejected: that the Zaragoza executives wanted to “subtract it from the bankruptcy regime, in fraud of the preferential creditors, committing , with such fraudulent provisions, an alleged crime of misappropriation or punishable insolvency .

What shows reasonable doubts, and hence the acquittal, is that it ended up in the hands of the Levante players for several reasons. The first is that he doesn't know how much or how he arrived. "Nothing has been proven about the circumstances in which the crime of sports corruption would have been perpetrated, nor about the people who materially participated in the adjustment, or how it was negotiated, or who or how it was executed , one or the other part, "says the sentence.

" We do not know how the money came to the Levante players, if any of the managers, employees or players of Zaragoza participated in it or was through third parties, and we also ignore what would have been the channel used to deliver it to the Levante players . In this sense, Captain Sergio Martínez Ballesteros is mentioned, but he is indicated without any objective basis, since it has not been proven that he had any intervention in the negotiation of the adjustment or in the reception or distribution of the money or that he had greater influence on the Levante squad than the one corresponding to the fact of being one of its captains ".

Moreover, the magistrate understands that, if the 1.7 million disappeared had gone to the 18 players, they would have received 96,000 euros each «around half of their annual income, which seems an excessive amount to buy the will ». In addition, it is "unwise" for all defendants to participate. “It is more likely that the corrupted would have transmitted the offer only to reliable partners. The best stealth is guaranteed and they would get a jackpot, ”says the judge, aware that “ it is possible to predetermine a result by corrupting only part of the workforce ” .

Saved the central core of the judged, throughout the sentence the judge is distributing reproaches. The recipients of the Zaragoza transfers (Gabi, Jorge López, Ander Herrera, Doblas, Da Silva, Lanzarote, Braulio, Ponzio and Diogo ) give them a jerk of ears. "It is implausible and inexplicable that, being the strange operation, they did not demand a receipt for the delivery of the money , which is what anyone would have commonly asked for in such circumstances," says the judge. "Especially if we take into account the date of the events, when Real Zaragoza, from whom the funds transferred came, was in a serious economic situation - made known by all the recipients of the transfers - and on the eve of the dispute of the last match , in which rumors of briefcases or possible threats had been published, "he adds.

Gabi's signature

As for the 765,000 euros in cash, he does not consider it to be a premium, even though Gabi, as captain, signed it. Without giving validity to the thesis of the deception that the former captain defended in his statement, and making it clear that when he was also involved in the transfers there could have been "collusion of the player with those responsible for the club", he considers that " there would be no logical explanation and reasonable to justify the conscious and voluntary participation of Mr. Fernández Arenas in these events, since, neither did he need to win the acquiescence of the president of Zaragoza to get his transfer to another club, nor did he expect to continue in Zaragoza during the following season " .

In fact, the judge notes that the amount reflected in the signed promissory note corresponds to the premiums for matches that all players had been receiving in their accounts since December. "Both sums coincide exactly, so, if we take into account the emotional circumstances in which Mr. Fernández says he has signed that document, during the farewell act as a Zaragoza player, it is also possible that he really believed he was signing the confirmation of the group premiums received during the season ".

Regarding the report of the Tax Agency , and although he considers that the players gave "insufficient explanations" of the variation in their expenses, he considers that he does not support the commission of the crime of sports fraud. The evidence provided by LaLiga also considers them refuted. The testimony of Javier Tebas - who does not consider that it violates professional secrecy by denouncing the revelation of the Zaragoza player who gave rise to the cause - understands the judge who was not ratified by any witness. The testimony of Augusto César Lendoiro , the only one who acknowledged knowing of the alleged adjustment, says that it has "very little probative value" and that of Fernando Roig Negueroles, who did not ratify the version of the president of LaLiga, considers it supported "in rumors and comments, without known author, nor concrete objective basis , lacking, therefore, of true probative value ".

"Ultimately, none of the alleged witnesses referred to in his complaint by Mr. Thebes confirmed what he claimed in his complaint, since he would not have identified them either, hiding in professional secrecy, thereby preventing anyone who could be interrogated in the act of trial or in the case of those who were identified, they did not confirm the statements that Mr. Thebes attributed to them in his complaint in what is substantial to maintain the criminal charge, "concludes Judge Aleis.

It gives more credibility to the testimony of the referee of the party, the president of the Levant, Quico Catalán, and the coach, Luis García Plaza , who denied having any suspicion of the alleged adjustment despite the rumors that led the club to issue a press release in the days before the game. "It would have to provoke a special state of alert in the two witnesses. And yet both denied having witnessed signs of adjustment or having heard before or after the dispute of the meeting." It also highlights the testimony of Sergio González, Levante player who stayed out of the call. " The purchase offer had to be debated and accepted, prior to the call, by the staff as a whole, which would include Mr. Gonzalez who, as a witness, denies it ."

One of the charge tests provided by LaLiga was the viewing of the match and a statistical report. With respect to the video of the game, the judge did not notice "clear or unequivocal evidence of the possible reported size, so that the party runs within the normal channels and there is no notable move , relevant to the final result, that may relate logically and according to the principles of the experience with a possible tongo, such as a penalty or expulsion caused or a clamorous error of the goalkeeper or of another player who had propitiated a goal, not even noticing widespread passivity in Levante players developer of a possible criminal concert. "

With respect to statistics, he understands that "the very random nature" of football makes the report irrelevant. "It is unpredictable and therefore difficult to reconcile with the rules of statistics , so that the best team does not always win, nor the one who plays the best, nor the one who retains the possession of the ball for the longest time, or the one who throws the goal, with many factors and variables, including luck, in the final result, of what is good shows its use for pools and other sports betting, "he says.

REACTIONS

  • The League He has issued an informative note in which he states "deeper respect for the decisions of the Courts of Justice" and announces that he will continue to fight "against any possible adulteration of his competitions."
  • Sergio Ballesteros . "Javier Tebas has hurt many people with the complaint in 2013." "In the sentence it is not known if he was a lawyer, vice president of the League or candidate for president. To exercise a position with as much responsibility as he has he has to measure the words a lot. He has been making statements of all kinds for 5 years, he has it hurt a lot of people and it is the second time they have acquitted this false complaint he has made. It is what we have now and that has to work with Spanish football, "he stressed at the exit of the court.
  • Javier Aguirre . "I am very happy for myself and my family, I always trusted justice. A hug to everyone," he said in statements made by his current club.

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