De Laurentiis slams Cannavaro and Grava suspensions

Dec 27, 2012 12:50:00 PM

The Partenopei president believes the bans imposed on his players were unfair and have affected his side's chances of picking up silverware this season

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has hit out at the suspensions issued to Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava for their part in the Scommessopoli scandal.

The duo were banned for six months for failing to report attempted match fixing, while the club was docked two points as part of the punishment.

De Laurentiis believes the sanctions were unjust, particularly given the time that has elapsed since the alleged incident, and pointed to his side's Coppa Italia defeat to Bologna as proof that his players have been affected mentally by the issue.

"They [the FIGC] took Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava from us," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "It seems unfair that we should be punished for something that did not happen.

"Even if anything did happen, it would have been as far back as three seasons ago.

"These are players who were symbols of our dressing room, and, of course, all of this [controversy] has affected the team psychologically in the Coppa Italia."

De Laurentiis assured that he was planning to invest in the squad during the January transfer window to compensate for their losses, but added that the majority of spending would take place over the summer.

"There will be investment in the next month, there will be great investments in the summer," he said. "We are in the market to make decisive repairs to the squad, and we will be even more determined in June.

"I spend large sums only for the strikers; for the other roles we want the right investments. I do not think that paying €9 million for [Blerim] Dzemaili and €16 million for [Gokhan] Inler has been trivial.

"In the summer I proceeded to renew the contract of [Edinson] Cavani, offering a substantial figure for scoring 40 goals in a year."

"We need to look further ahead in the future. Take Barcelona a few years ago: they decided to focus on young people. At first they had some problems, but today they are the strongest team in the world.

"Here, you have to decide if you want the experience, which guarantees greater continuity, or work for the future by investing in young people."

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GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!! BAYERN MAKE THE BREAKTHROUGH!!! Just moments after heading a Javi Martinez flick-on straight at Neuer, Mandzukic fully vindicates his selection in the Bayern starting line-up ahead of Mario Gomez (as if his superior work-rate wasn't reason enough alone!) by being on hand to convert a cut-back from Robben. A simple goal for the Croat - but an absolutely massive one. Just how will Dortmund react to having gone behind?

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Franz Beckenbauer is never one to mince his words and he's been disappointed - yet not in the least bit surprised - by Arjen Robben's finishing tonight.

"It just seems like Arjen Robben can't score in decicive matches," the legendary libero told Sky Germany during the break.

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The second half is just under way, but just to give you the thoughts of three-time World Referee Of The Year Markus Merk, who is working the game for Sky Germany tonight. He feels that Ribery's elbow on Lewandowski during the first half could easily have been construed as deliberate by match official Nicola Rizzoli.

"Ribery was very lucky," he argued. "If the referee judges this as an intentional act, he can easily give a red card. I cannot understand why a player like Franck Ribery behaves like this in a Champions League final."

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Jay Jaffa is watching the game surrounded by German fans and he's picked up what he has described himself as a tremendously "precise" prediction from one supporter.

"We've had boos, moans and groans throughout the half from fans unhappy with Bayern's resurgence. The loudest cheers of all have been saved for Roman Weidenfeller though, after two exceptional saves from Arjen Robben. There's no doubt, in this pub at least, that the support lies with Dortmund and a friendly chap named Andreas believes BVB will come out on top, insisting: 'We will get stronger as the game goes on and Lewandowski will score in the final 10 minutes.' About as precise a prediction as you can get!"

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