Italian police open investigation over potential cheating in Suarez's test

Italian police have opened an investigation into whether Luis Suarez cheated during his Italian language test that formed part of the process of gaining an Italian passport.

The striker flew to Italy last week to take his test ahead of a proposed move to Juventus.

He passed the exam, but his transfer to Juve has fallen through because all the necessary documentation could not be completed in time.

In any case, La Gazzetta dello Sport have revealed that Italian police are now looking into the test.

"Irregularities emerged during the certification exam of Italian language, carried out on September 17, of Uruguayan footballer Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz, which is needed to acquire Italian citizenship," reads an official police document that MARCA gained access to.

Italian authorities believe that Suarez knew the content of the exam before taking it, allowing him to pass despite his limited knowledge of Italian.

"From the research, it seems that the topics covered in the exam were previously agreed upon with the candidate and the relative score was attributed to him even before the [exam] was carried out, despite having found, during his distanced lessons with university teachers, an elemental knowledge of the Italian language," say the Italian police.

La Gazzetta dello Sport have also published a number of phrases from recordings of some of those involved.

"He earns 10 million [euros a year], he has to pass the exam," says one.

"But what if he can't conjugate verbs and only speaks in the infinitive?" says another.

"Tell me what score I'm giving and it's ready," is another phrase.

"If he doesn't pass, we'll be destroyed," was another.

"We've prepared him well, he's memorised part of the exam," was yet one more phrase revealed by the Italian newspaper.

Investigators are now collecting information to confirm if ideological forgery was committed by public officials in public documents.