The general manager of Juventus football club was seriously injured today when he jumped from the window of his second-floor office in Turin clutching a rosary in an apparent suicide attempt.

In the latest drama to hit Italy's scandal-hit Serie A football league, police said that Gianluca Pessotto, 35, climbed onto the window ledge and jumped 15m (50ft) to the car park below, bouncing off one car and onto another. A team spokesman said that he had sustained multiple fractures but his life was not in danger.

Pessotto retired as a player last season after 11 years with Juventus, whom he helped win the Champions League in 1996. He was also capped 22 times for Italy as a defender. He had only been appointed to the manager's post last month.

Police said they were investigating whether Pessotto had tried to kill himself, although the motive was not immediately apparent. He was said to have been alone in his office before he jumped.

Juventus are due to face a sports tribunal this week over the match-fixing scandal that has engulfed Italian football and could well see the club relegated from Serie A, but Pessotto’s name has not been linked to the affair.

The row also involves Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan although reports suggest that five smaller clubs Empoli, Siena, Messina, Reggina and Lecce are also set to be charged.

The Italian World Cup team in Germany, which beat Australia 1-0 last night to reach the quarter-finals of the building, cut short a press conference after news of Pessotto's hospitalisation reached them.

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