Fabio Paratici’s PRIMSA scandal hearing postponed to May 10

There was some belief that by the end of the day today we might have had some further clarity on the status of Tottenham Hotspur Managing Director of Football Fabio Paratici’s future. Alas, we may not know for another month unless the club decides to take unilateral action.

Paratici was implicated as part of the PRISMA/plusvalenza scandal that resulted in the resignation of the entire Juventus board of directors. An Italian magistrate has already banned Paratici from Italian football for two and a half years, and wants FIFA to extend the ban to the whole of global football. Paratici, who has maintained his innocence, is currently exhausting his appeals process. The first hearing was supposed to take place today. However, according to Gianluca DiMarzio, the judge in charge of the hearing has postponed the investigation to May 10.

So what does this mean for Paratici and for Tottenham Hotspur? Unfortunately, we still don’t really know. The original injunction and sentence currently holds for Don Fabio — he’s still as of now banned from Italian football for the next 30 months, but he’s also as of now still employed by Spurs. The club has been completely silent on Paratici’s job status and whether his job remains tenable. But until we hear otherwise, we should assume it’s still business as usual at Tottenham.

This is coming at a critical time for Spurs. The club sacked head coach Antonio Conte by mutual consent yesterday, and all indications are that Fabio Paratici has a large role in helping Daniel Levy determine who will come in as a permanent successor. Conte’s assistant Cristian Stellini has assumed the role of Interim Head Coach, with Ryan Mason as his lead assistant; all of Conte’s former assistants save one has opted to remain with the club for now.

But it’s weird, isn’t it? Paratici is accused of pretty serious financial crimes and may not be at the club for long, which makes it especially strange that Levy seemingly continues to trust him in matters relating to Spurs’ new manager as well as player recruitment. Kicking the can down the road until May does not help anything and potentially creates an even bigger problem down the road if Paratici’s sentence is upheld, with even less time to fix it. Spurs need to issue some clarity on Paratici’s situation one way or the other — either by moving on from him now, or by Levy issuing a direct statement of support and backing.