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Football

22nd Sep 2020

Luis Suarez accused of cheating on Italian language test

Luis Suarez has been accused of cheating on an Italian language exam which he had to pass to play for Juventus, reports claim

Reuben Pinder

He is now set to join Atlético Madrid

Luis Suarez has been accused of cheating on his Italian language exam at the University for Perugia.

Italian media have reported ‘irregularities’ in his exam, most notably that he is alleged to have known the question subjects ahead of sitting the exam.

The Uruguayan was made to sit the exam in order to gain Italian citizenship ahead of a proposed move to Juventus, with both non-EU spots in their squad already filled.

Italian outlet Repubblica claim Suarez “does not speak a word of Italian,” and that he “cannot conjugate verbs,” and “only speaks in the infinitive.”

This effectively means he knows key words but cannot use them to form a coherent sentence in Italian.

“If journalists would ask him some questions, he’d be lost,” the report claims.

It is alleged that to get around this rather fundamental lack of knowledge of the language, Suárez memorised parts of the exam, knowing which questions would appear on the paper.

The report also claims that the exam lasted minutes, rather than the usual two and a half hours, and was concluded with smiles and hugs between Suárez and Lorenzo Rocca, the examiner.

Despite his dubious passing of the exam, his move to Juventus fell through, and the former Liverpool player is now set to join Atlético Madrid, with Álvaro Morata leaving Atléti to return to Juventus.

Suárez’s exit has been on the cards ever since Ronald Koeman was appointed Barcelona manager following their humiliating exit from the Champions League in August. Koeman never had plans to work with Suárez during the final year of his contract and hopes to bring Memphis Depay to the Camp Nou as his replacement.