[Warchant]

MILAN, June 20 (Reuters) - Inter Milan would not have been able to compete in the 2005/06 Italian championship if important financial information had come to light, a commission said on Wednesday.

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti and AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani are being investigated after accusations that some transfer fees were inflated between 2003 and 2005 in order to obtain fictitious capital gains.

Covisoc, the body which monitors Italian soccer club finances, said Inter would not have had the necessary financial security to have been allowed in the 2005/06 championship if full figures had been available.

'Financial balance would have been lost if the club had shown the losses connected to the fictitious capital gains and Inter would not have fitted the parameters asked for by Covisoc for registration in the 2005-06 championship,' the commission said in a statement.

However, Inter later denied the accusations.

'FC Internationale wish to make clear that they have never included fictitious capital gains in their own budgets and that they have already presented the necessary and complete technical documentation,' the club said in a statement.

Inter were awarded the 2005/06 Serie A title after original winners Juventus were stripped on the championship and demoted for their role in Italy's match-fixing scandal.

Roberto Mancini's side won last season's title on the pitch rather than a court room and so far there is no suggestion from official bodies that the club will face a serious sporting sanction as a result of the transfer probe.

it's not "milan" news...but it's the best news i've heard all week

[Tennie]

I think Inter got caught because the stated value of the player was much inflated from what they actually paid for him. (I think. Again, my understanding of the Italian used to describe this is iffy at best). So if an auditor looks at, say, Inter's books and sees Joebob listed at 10 million, whereas Inter only paid 1 million, that's where the problem is.

And it's my understanding that an investigation has been going on for some months; it's just that the findings came out today.

This is just not Moratti's week.

[kurtsimonw]

I think Inter got caught because the stated value of the player was much inflated from what they actually paid for him. (I think. Again, my understanding of the Italian used to describe this is iffy at best). So if an auditor looks at, say, Inter's books and sees Joebob listed at 10 million, whereas Inter only paid 1 million, that's where the problem is.
And it's my understanding that an investigation has been going on for some months; it's just that the findings came out today.

This is just not Moratti's week.

That's about cleared it up for me, cheers.

This post has been edited by kurtsimonw: Jun 21 2007, 01:37 AM