ITALY COACH ANTONIO Conte has been cleared of accusations of sporting fraud following a hearing in Cremona on Monday at which which prosecutors had requested a six-month prison sentence, Italian media reports said.

Conte is now free to lead Italy at Euro 2016 before becoming Chelsea coach following the tournament’s conclusion on 10 July, according to reports on the website of sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport.

Conte had been accused of not reporting an episode of match-fixing relating to a Serie B match with AlbinoLeffe from May 2011 when he was coach of Siena.

Although former players and other figures had been involved in the affair, Conte was the most famous.

The 46-year-old former Juventus coach has always denied any wrong-doing in an affair in which players allegedly colluded with underworld figures to fix matches and recoup the rewards of an illegal betting network.

A lawyer for Conte, Francesco Arata, said last month: “He’s a total stranger to the betting world and that’s why he will be cleared by the judge.”

© – AFP 2016

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