Padovano: "In prison, a guard told me to shove my money up my a… 17 years of hell; Vialli was one of the few who didn’t turn his back on me"

"It all started because I lent some money to a friend. I’d known him for ages. I was doing well financially and it wasn’t a problem for me to help someone in trouble – quite the opposite, in fact. But I didn’t know what he’d do with those 35,000 euros. I wasn’t aware of anything. I just told him, ‘I know you’re a bit of a troublemaker, so I’ll give the money to your wife’. But I meant it in a good-natured way. Instead, our innocent phone calls were mistaken for coded messages with encrypted words. We were talking about ‘horse’, ‘crane’ and ‘land’, and to the investigators these were code names relating to cocaine shipments. Fortunately, the truth prevailed. Of course, nobody will give me back everything I’ve lost."

“Was I ever afraid I wouldn’t make it? After the two setbacks in the early stages of the trial, a bit, yes. More than anything, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to prove my innocence. But I fought like a lion and never gave up. Tenacity is the quality I most recognise in myself; I was like that on the pitch too.”

"Has the world of football turned its back on me? Many have turned their backs on me and let me down – that much is true. Everything I’ve been through has helped me sort things out. I realised who my true friends are and who was only there for their own gain. When I was arrested, I had stopped playing and was working as general manager at Alessandria. Prison shut the doors of the world and of football to me; in an instant, it seems as though nobody remembers you anymore."

"Luca Vialli was like a brother to me; I know he used to ring my wife Adriana every week to ask how I was getting on. We’ve always been very close; when we played for Juventus we were always together, just as we were in London. It pains me to think he didn’t live to see my acquittal – he of all people, who always told me I’d be cleared and always supported me – but I’m sure he was celebrating up in heaven."

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