Today the complete verdict of the appeal has been published on the FIGB website. The outcome had been pre-released on 3rd of July (click here »).
The 3-year suspension for Fantoni and Nunes has been cancelled.
Fantoni and Nunes asked the ban to be cancelled after they were acquitted by Losanne’s Appeal Court (TAS/CAS Court of Arbitration for Sport ). The reason for the acquittal was that the CAS did not have enough evidence to prove that they had cheated.
The acquitaal had also ended the proceedings with the EBL. The EBL verdict was changed and the appeal was accepted.
The proceedings with the FIGB were still ongoing and Fantunes had appealed to the local Appeal Court (this was supposed to be discussed on 18/12/2018).
Fantoni and Nunes asked for the ban to be lifted, stating that ‘those who had been found not guilty by another tribunal could not be regarded guilty elsewhere’.
Fantoni an Nunes also confirmed that they wanted to avoid any issues, promising not to play together any more, as this would give them better opportunities, rather than because they acknowledged any wrong doing.
Now the Federal Appeal Tribunal of the Italian Bridge Federation (FIGB) has accepted their appeal and lifted the 3-year suspension because if a conviction is followed by an acquittal, then the defendant is innocent.
The FIGB Federal Appeal Tribunal has thus accepted the appeal and “acquits the players for lack of evidence”.