The trial for the falsification of the Equatoguinean passports of former Real Madrid center, Marcus Slaughter, and former Fuenlabrada forward, Andy Panko, was heard yesterday for sentencing. Although the former Madrid player has not been tried because he has not appeared, if the sentence found it proven that the credential was falsified, the way would be cleared for a future conviction of Slaughter. This is the reason why FC Barcelona has followed the matter so closely.
A conviction of the accused in this case would open the door to demanding the withdrawal of the ACB League and Copa del Rey titles that Madrid won in 2015 with the alleged improper alignment of Slaughter, who used his passport. Equatorial Guinea supposedly false to free up a non-EU place. Barça will have to turn to the ACB to activate the sporting channel again and demand the withdrawal of the titles. The club already claimed this in 2015, but the club association told them that they should first wait for what the court rules. However, there is also the possibility that the ACB will argue that, if Slaughter has not yet been tried, the sporting avenue cannot be reopened.
Read also
The absence of the former Real Madrid center in the trial forces Barça to withdraw the crime of sports corruption
Yesterday, in the last session of the trial, FC Barcelona, in the absence of Slaughter, asked for lower sentences for the accused. At the beginning of the trial he demanded a sentence of five years in prison for those involved, but he withdrew the accusation of the crime of sports corruption and ended up requesting a sentence of three years in prison. The disappearance of Slaughter, who is still on the run, forced Barcelona to capitulate. The reason is that the crime of corruption in sport means having adulterated the competition. These are the charges that, for example, are brought against Barça in the Negreira case, but on this occasion, when the trial is directed only against Panko, who did not play any match, with his falsified passport, “the crime of corruption in sport “It does not fit into this assumption,” prosecutors’ sources explained.
Panko’s case is different from Slaughter’s. The then Real Madrid center played 15 games with his Equatoguinean passport and freed up a non-EU spot. Was the competition adulterated? That will be the question that will have to be answered when the time comes, whenever the authorities find the former white player against whom an international arrest warrant is pending.
The accused yesterday used the last word to defend their innocence. During the trial, Panko said he did not know that the document for which he paid $30,000 was false. Julián Aranda, the agent of the two players, thought that the operation was reliable and assured that he did not gain anything through the intermediation. Coach Hugo López recalled that he suggested to Panko the possibility of naturalizing Equatorial Guinea, but that he did not make him any offer. And finally, Richard Nguema said that the delegate of his team, the Malabo Kings, was the link to order the passports. The Prosecutor’s Office asks for a year and a half in prison for them.
Read also
#Slaughter #sentencing
