Cagliari president arrested in stadium probe

MILAN, Italy (AFP) –

Cagliari‘s Is Arenas stadium prior to their Serie A match against AC Milan on February 10, 2013. Cagliari president Massimo Cellino was one of three people arrested Thursday as police investigated possible irregularities over the construction of the club’s Is Arenas stadium, ANSA news agency reported.

Cagliari president Massimo Cellino was one of three people arrested Thursday as police investigated possible irregularities over the construction of the club’s Is Arenas stadium, ANSA news agency reported.

Cellino was arrested with Mauro Contini, the mayor for the district of Quartu where the stadium is located, and the councillor for public works, Stefano Lilliu.

All three apparently face charges of suspicion of embezzlement and forgery, according to the report.

The Is Arenas has been in the Italian football headlines several times this season.

Last week authorities wanted to stage the Cagliari v AC Milan game in Turin over security fears because the Is Arenas stadium is still not fully completed.

However an 11th-hour compromise was reached and the game went ahead at the Sardinian club’s new ground.

Cagliari, who are currently fifth from bottom in Serie A, later released a statement on their website cagliaricalcio.net expressing their support for Cellino.

“Although confident in the work of the judiciary, we’re sure the investigation will show nothing to link our president to the allegations that have been made,” read the statement.

“None of us can guarantee that Massimo Cellino will be treated with fairness and honesty, so in this moment we just want to say: be strong president, we are with you.”