Morata returns to Juventus on loan from Atletico Madrid Swiss parliament picks special prosecutor for FIFA case duty Pair freed after questioning in Tour de France doping probe
Álvaro Morata returned to Juventus on Tuesday, signed on a loan deal from Atletico Madrid. Juventus said it will pay Atletico 10 million euros ($12 million) for the season-long loan for the Spain striker. It then has the option to purchase his full rights by the end of the season for an additional 45 million euros. Juventus also said it has the option to extend the loan for another season through 2022 for another 10 million euros, after which it can purchase his full rights for 35 million euros. Morata won two Serie A titles with Juventus in 2015 and 2016, and played together with new Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo for part of that stint.
The Swiss parliament appointed special prosecutor Stefan Keller on Wednesday to investigate former attorney general Michael Lauber for his meetings with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Criminal proceedings were opened against Infantino in July when Keller said he found "elements that make up reprehensible behavior" linked to meetings with Lauber in 2016 and 2017. Swiss lawmakers had previously met Keller's request to lift the immunity from prosecution from which Lauber had benefited in the job he left last month. In a vote Wednesday, lawmakers confirmed Keller as the only candidate for the investigative role over Lauber, who led a longrunning and ongoing series of criminal proceedings linked to international soccer officials. Lauber was recused from the FIFA investigation last year and disciplined in March amid fallout from media reports which revealed the Infantino meetings where neither took notes. Both have said they cannot recall details of their June 2017 meeting. Lauber now faces questioning for potential abuse of public office and breach of official secrecy. Infantino and a Swiss regional prosecutor, his childhood friend Rinaldo Arnold, are suspected of inciting Lauber. They all deny wrongdoing.
Two people questioned in a Tour de France doping probe around the team of former runner-up Nairo Quintana have been released without charge, a French prosecutor said Wednesday. Police released the pair, a doctor and a physiotherapist, on Tuesday night, Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens said in a statement. Police took them in for questioning on Monday. The prosecutor said the investigation itself remains open, with more police work to be done before any decision on whether to proceed further. Colombian rider Quintana, runner-up in 2013 and 2015 but 17th this year, has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement late Tuesday, he said police who searched his hotel room after a Tour stage in the Alps found only "perfectly legal" vitamin supplements. He said it is taking time to clear up misunderstandings about the products, because officers weren't immediately familiar with them. Quintana said French officials questioned him Monday, the day after the Tour finished in Paris, and that he responded voluntarily to the summons.