Last Thursday, the Italian footballer Michael Liguori was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor under 14 years of age It happened on July 5, 2018, when the athlete was 19 years old. Despite the conviction, The forward continues training and playing with his team, Padovaleader of the third category of the calcium.
Liguori, at that time a Notaresco player, and a friend of his met two underage girls in Alba Adriatica, in Teramo. According to the reconstruction of the accusation, The soccer player and his friend moved away from crowded spaces and forced the girls, aged 14 and 15, to have non-consensual sexual relations.. The player and his defense, who appealed the sentence, denied the latter and always affirmed that the acts were consensual.
The minors immediately went to report what happened to the authorities and during the judicial process they declared before the Court: “I told him no, he went ahead anyway”said the young woman, now 20 years old, who claims to have been abused by Liguori, as stated in the official investigation documents, revealed by several Italian media.
The sentence of the Court of Teramo that declared him guilty was made official last Thursday, October 10, two days before Padova played against Giana Erminio in Serie C. That same day, on which the guilty sentence was announced in first instance of Liguori, The club issued a statement warning that until the sentence was final and ultimately it would continue counting on the player.
“Calcio Padova learned the news regarding the first instance ruling regarding its player Michael Liguori. President Francesco Peghin and executive director Alessandra Bianchi have stated that The company will not express any type of assessment on the matter until the Justice has issued a final final ruling.“was the statement issued.
In fact, Liguori took the field for 32 minutes in the victory against Giana Erminio which keeps Padova leader of its group in the third category of Italian football. The chaos and the club’s decision not to remove the player has generated controversy in Italy, especially in the city of Padua.
“Faced with such a harsh sentence, even in the first instance, the club could and should have sent a different message, at least showing greater sensitivity not only towards the alleged victim, but also towards the cultural context that, with difficulty, is being tried to build. A context where Increasing attention must be paid to the issue of gender violence and femicides,” said Chiara Gallani, a councilor of the Padua City Council, criticizing the decision of her municipality’s club.
For now, Liguori will also be able to continue playing normally despite the controversy, until the case reaches a new trial in which a final sentence is handed down. and ultimately to declare him definitively innocent or guilty of the sexual abuse of the 14-year-old minor when he was 19.
