• Judgment: The 36 players accused of the size of the Levante-Zaragoza have been cleared
  • Analysis.The striking reasons of the judge for not seeing size in the Levante-Zaragoza

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office appealed on Monday the decision, taken by the Criminal Court number 7 of Valencia, to acquit the players of Real Zaragoza and Levante UD who had been accused of an alleged adjustment, since it considers that there is an absence of "logical and joint" explanation of the evidence that he believes were accredited during the trial.

The players had been implicated in this accusation following the match that was played between both teams on May 21, 2011, at the Ciutat de València stadium, during the last day of LaLiga and in which the Aragonese won by 1-2 and avoided the decline of category.

For this reason, the Prosecutor's Office asks that it be condemned for the existence of sports corruption - together with the one that has already been convicted of falsehood - or that, in a subsidiary manner, when there has been a "probative and illogical disconnection" between evidence and sentence , that this ruling be annulled so that a new motivation or the realization of a hearing with another magistrate is given "for the purpose of carrying out an adjusted probative assessment and that includes all the documentation provided".

This is stated in the appeal, to which Europa Press has had access, against the judgment of the criminal magistrate number 7 of Valencia who found no evidence that the money left from the Zaragoza accounts was destined for the Levante players for being lost in that game and, therefore, rejected that this match was rigged.

However, for the Prosecutor's Office, the conclusion that the magistrate obtained in the sentence is not reasonable in logic "or in human experience" since the evidence accredited and valued, taken together, "are what allow concluding a conviction" for corruption sporty. For the Anticorruption prosecutor, the magistrate reaches factual conclusions "incoherent" with the evidence that he himself considers proven and that are supported by objective data, reports, bank documents and accounting books.

The criminal magistrate acquitted the 42 defendants of the crime of sports corruption for which they were prosecuted and sentenced two directors of the Aragonese club for falsehood in a private document: the former owner, A gapito Iglesias , and the former financial director Francisco Javier Porquera . Each of them imposed a year and three months in prison.

For the magistrate, both executives fraudulently justified the exit of 1,730,000 euros from the Zaragoza accounts with the payment of special bonuses to their players for achieving permanence in the First Division. The payment of these premiums was not real and he pretended "to hide the outflow of money before the imminent declaration of bankruptcy of the entity."

Iglesias and Porquera agreed that these provisions of cash be counted "mendaciously" as if it were the payment to Zaragoza players of a special bonus for permanence in the First Division, "according to the ruling. They both decided that "payrolls and a collective receipt, signed by the team captain, should be prepared to document them, both externally in front of the Tax Agency, and internally, within the contest, in front of bankruptcy administrators and creditors."

The judge exculpated a third defendant from this maneuver, former Zaragoza SAD advisor Francisco José Checa , because he understood that it was not clear that he actually acted as an advisor since his appointment.

The prosecutor emphasizes that, in this case, it has been proven that a significant amount of money was withdrawn from Zaragoza "without any justification, using the players and under the alleged bonus payment" ; that Iglesias and Porquera accounted "mendaciously" for these provisions as if they were paying a special premium for permanence.

It has also been that the Levante players suffered a "significant decrease" in cash and card provisions after the game, especially for daily expenses, and that the current Maña directive "completely discards the thesis of the diversion of funds for another purpose other than the purchase, adjustment or arrangement of the party. " In addition, it stands out that none of the Zaragoza players have stated that they charge a premium for permanence or very special.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • sports
  • Lift UD
  • Real Zaragoza

Soccer 36 players accused of the size of Levante-Zaragoza

SoccerA strange complaint, witnesses who back down and cheap vacations: this is the chronology of the alleged adjustment in the Levante-Zaragoza

FootballThe striking reasons of the judge for not seeing size in Levante-Zaragoza