Police investigating claims Luis Suarez cheated in exam to gain Italian passport

Italian Police are said to be investigating claims Luis Suarez cheated in his Italian exam to gain a passport for his failed move to Juventus.

The Barcelona outcast, 33, was seemingly on the brink of a move to the Serie A champions - but first had to pass a language test.

Suarez was eligible to apply for a passport as his wife, Sofia Balbi, has Italian ancestors - but rules dictate he must pass his language test.

Suarez passed his exam, but - soon after - Juve pulled the plug on the deal.

Director Fabio Paratici claimed the club wouldn't have time to sort his passport before having to register him into their squad.

But now, multiple reports in Italy are claiming Suarez actually CHEATED and "knew the test questions" in advance.

There is nothing to suggest Juventus knew about the "cheating".

On Tuesday, the Perugia Prosecutor's Office released a statement regarding the investigation.

It read: "During the investigations some irregularities have emerged in the exam of Certification of Italian, sat on September 17 by Uruguayan football player Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz, needed to obtain the Italian citizenship.

“From the investigation, it emerged the topics in the exam had been agreed in advance with the applicant...

"The relative mark had been attributed even before carrying out the exam, regardless of the fact an elementary proficiency of the Italian language has been verified during remote classes carried out by lecturers.

“Today, the Italian financial police are moving forward to capture the documents at the university offices...

"[They will] verify the actions described beforehand and notify the information assurances for the crimes of the revelation of professional secrecy, false representation committed by public officials in official documents and other.”

It is not yet clear what punishment Suarez could face if found guilty of cheating.

Earlier this month, Barcelona revealed they were so keen to offload Suarez's wages, they would pay to get him off the books.

New boss Ronald Koeman told Suarez he was not in his plans for the season.

After Juventus pulled out of a deal, Atletico Madrid became the new favourites to sign the Uruguayan, beating Ajax to the move.

Atleti have already offloaded Alvaro Morata - who only joined on a permanent deal this summer - to Juventus to make room.

They are also set to give Diego Costa the boot.