Inter deny financial irregularities

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has shrugged off concerns the club could be forced to hand back their 2005-06 league title…

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has shrugged off concerns the club could be forced to hand back their 2005-06 league title after they found themselves wrapped up in a financial probe.

Moratti and AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani are being investigated following allegations certain transfer fees were inflated between 2003 and 2005 in order to secure fictitious capital gains.

Covisoc, the group which monitors the finances of Italian football clubs, has stated Inter would not have had the required financial security to have competed in the 2005-06 Serie A season if full details had been available.

Inter inherited the 2005-06 crown following Juventus' demotion to Serie B due to last summer's match-fixing scandal and then romped to the title in the recently-completed season.

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Moratti insists the club have done nothing wrong and that they will be vindicated when they provide evidence to back up their position.

"We are not worried in any way regarding the investigation on budgets," he told the club's official website, www.inter.it. "It's disappointing from an image point of view but I am certain that the questions regarding this story will be answered.

"We still have to make our deposition, which will serve to finally clarify a story that I believe is slightly absurd."

Reports indicate the club will not face a serious sporting sanction as a result of the investigation and Moratti is adamant Inter will not be stripped of their title triumph.

He added: "We really don't believe in any way that we have to hand back the 2005-06 scudetto because it was right that it was awarded to us. In any case, this move would be perceived as though we have admitted to being guilty."