Quagliarella left Napoli amid cocaine, mafia accusations

Damning accusations surrounding Quagliarella’s time in Napoli have come to light, which forced him to move on to Juventus.

Fabio Quagliarella was once thought to be one of the best Italian strikers on the planet. He’s been all over the Italian Serie A, but his stint in Napoli was cut short due to extenuating circumstances. Anonymous letters sent to the club accused Quagliarella of cocaine usage, links to the mafia, and pedophilia among others. This is all per Calciomercato (h/t Bleacher Report).

Now being asked to stand trial, Quagliarella has hit out against these accusations:

"I was forced to leave my hometown and Napoli sold me to Juventus. I had been falsely accused of being a Camorrist and a pedophile who was doing orgies. President De Laurentiis used to call me every day, but after those letters he advised to me to leave my hometown Castellammare di Stabia to go live in a hotel, to be more calm and relaxed.After that conversation that took place in Napoli’s headquarters, he had never called me again."

According to Football Italia, the prime suspect in the case is a policeman by the name of Raffaele Piccolo. Quagliarella has accused him of stalking him and sending threatening letters to his family. The letters only furthered the club’s suspicion of the player and forced their hand in selling him. And as Tancredi Palmeri suggested, the cop may be suffering from a mental problem.

If he was forced to move to Juventus, he certainly had a good time playing there. Quagliarella racked up 23 goals in 83 games there and won the Scudetto three years in a row. There’s no way of saying whether he’s guilty or not, but there seems to be inconsistent evidence of him actually doing any wrong. It’s also pretty strange that these accusations have come to light just as Making a Murderer is becoming a big hit.