Cristian Stellini hopes Fabio Paratici returns to football after suspension

Tottenham acting head coach Cristian Stellini has expressed his hope that Fabio Paratici will return to football in the future and insisted everyone deserves a second chance.

Paratici resigned from his role as managing director of football at Spurs on Friday morning after his appeal against a 30-month ban from the sport was upheld on Thursday.

While the Sports Guarantee Panel at the Italian National Olympic Committee accepted Juventus’ appeal against their 15-point deduction for allegations of false accounting and have ordered a new trial, Paratici’s two-and-a-half-year suspension by the FIGC Court of Appeal remains.

Club Statement – Fabio Paratici

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 21, 2023

The Italian had already temporarily stepped away from his duties at Spurs on March 31 when FIFA extended his ban globally but he has now officially departed the Premier League club.

“He’s a man who works with passion. I hope for him (to come back),” Stellini said ahead of Sunday’s trip to top-four rivals Newcastle.

“I am very close to him on a human level and I hope for him he will be back but it’s not my decision, it’s the decision of Fabio. Also, the judgment is not finished.

“He could come back. I think also the judgment is not finished. There is another part of the case and he has to wait and do his best to come back soon.

“All people deserve to have a second chance in their life. This is important for everyone but you have to work hard and be the best possible you can.”

Stellini will know only too well the difficult place Paratici currently finds himself in after he was forced to serve his own ban from football in 2012.

He resigned from his assistant coach role at Juventus before the FIGC handed him a suspension for