Juve’s Pessotto In Serious Condition After Fall From Window At Club HQ
News reports from Turin are saying that Juventus’ sports director, former Juve and Italy star Gianluca Pessotto, has fallen from a window at the club’s HQ and is in a serious, thought to be life threatening, condition in hospital.
ROME (Reuters) – Former Juventus player Gianluca Pessotto was in a serious condition after falling from a window at the club’s headquarters, the Juventus press office said on Tuesday.
Pessotto, who took up the post of Juventus’s sports director at the end of last season after 11 years with the team, was taken to hospital in Turin.
The defender, who made 22 appearances for Italy, was a regular starter during one of the most successful periods in Juventus’s history, winning six Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League.
Italy captain and Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro walked out of a news conference at the Azzurri’s World Cup training camp when he heard the news of Pessotto’s fall.
I understand that the whole Italian World Cup squad are now demanding to be returned to Italy to visit Pessotto and to find out exactly what the circumstances are regarding this tragedy.
With the continued threat of relegation and heavy punishment hanging over Juventus for their part in the match fixing scandal, the real reasons for Pessotto’s fall seem unclear although there are sure to be many conspiracy theories launched by fans until the actual details emerge.
The big question is: just how badly do some people at Juventus want to distance themselves from punishment for their part in the match fixing scandal?
About the author Alan Hylands
Alan is both a former SOTG editor and former World Soccer editor at the New York Times Company. Football-wise, he wishes he was a younger lovechild of Glenn Hoddle and Diego Maradona (not the short, fat, cokehead, religious nut bit obviously...)
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[...] Laut Agenturmeldung hat der ehemalige Abwehrspieler und neue Team-Manager von Juventus Turin, Gianluca Pessoto heute einen Selbstmordversuch unternommen. Demnach sei Pessotto aus dem Fenster seines Büros im zweiten Obergeschoss der Juve-Geschäftsstelle gesprungen. Für die Selbstmordtheorie spreche die Tatsache, daß Pessotto wärend seines Sturzes einen Rosenkranz in der Hand gehalten habe. [...]
I doubt Pessotto has anything to do with the scandal seeing he was only appointed to this position after the scandal broke and the Juve board resigned. Before that he was a player and the investigation has not brought charges against any players. I hope Pessotto is ok, there seems to be confusion about the extent of his injuries and the height of his fall depending on what you read. I’ve read that it is life-threatening or that his injuries are not serious, and that he fell from a 2nd story window or the roof of the building, so I think we’ll have to wait a bit to find out what really happened. This must be especially hard for the Italy squad, especially the Juve players like Cannavaro and Del Piero.
When I said I’d read his injuries are not that serious, I meant to say ‘not life-threatening’…
I think it was Sky SPorts News text which had the headline containing something like ‘Pessotto Suicide Bid’ which I think was a bit ill-advised. Who knows what really happened at this time and with Pessotto still critically injured it’s probably best to wait and see how the full story really emerges.