Italy's World Cup squad was yesterday rocked by the news that former Juventus and Italy defender, 35-year-old Gianluca Pessotto, was involved in an apparent suicide attempt at the Juventus headquarters in Turin.

Last night Pessotto was in a serious but not life threatening condition as a result of injuries picked up when he jumped out of a dormer window on the second floor of the Juventus building in Corso Galileo Ferraris.

Pessotto, who was rushed to Turin's Molinette hospital, underwent emergency surgery for leg and ankle fractures as well as internal injuries. Investigators looking into the incident have not ruled out a suicide attempt by the former player who was appointed general team manager last month, just weeks after he had retired as a player.

Staff at the Juventus headquarters reported that when Pessotto arrived for work yesterday, he had parked his car in the underground car park rather than in its usual place in the courtyard in front of his office. He went up to his office, climbed out the dormer window and threw himself onto the courtyard below, with his fall being partially broken by two of the parked cars.

Pessotto, who was a practising Catholic, was found with rosary beads in his hands while he had left both his car keys and mobile phone on the dormer window sill. A Juventus player since the 1995-96 season, winner of six Italian titles and 22-times capped for Italy, Pessotto retired last month at the end of the Serie A season.

The news of Pessotto's apparent suicide attempt caused a huge stir in the Italian World Cup camp in Duisburg, near Dusseldorf. Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro, a club team mate of Pessotto, immediately walked out of the team's daily news conference when informed of the incident, saying only: "Gianluca is as decent a guy as you'll ever meet".

Two of Pessotto's Juventus team-mates in the Italy squad, Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Zambrotta yesterday flew back to Turin on a private charter to visit Pessotto in hospital, returning to the Italian camp in Duisburg late last night.

Inevitably, Pessotto's dramatic gesture immediately prompted speculation that it might in some way be linked to the ongoing match-fixing scandal in Italian football, given that Juventus are the number one defendant in a football federation hearing due to start next week. At first glance, though, it is difficult to see how the former player could be linked since, essentially, it is the club and club directors but not the players who are in the dock.

A quiet spoken, thoughtful player known to his team mates as "The Professor" because of his spectacles and his habit of reading the non-sports Italian press, Pessotto always came across as a self-contained, calm individual on and off the pitch. In an interview with this correspondent two years ago, he spoke of his uncertainty about his post-playing career, adding that he would dearly like to "stay in football".

He appeared to have realised that ambition when appointed to the Juventus team staff last month as part of the reorganisation programme enacted by the Turin club's new management in the wake of the club resignations prompted by Juve's involvement in the scandal. Many commentators hailed the appointment, arguing that Pessotto was an obvious choice as a future coach to the club's youth teams.

Gazzetta Dello Sport's web site yesterday claimed however that Pessotto had recently been having treatment for depression and that he had scheduled an appointment with his psychiatrist for yesterday. Speculation that Pessotto's gesture might have been prompted by recently learning that he was suffering from some form of terminal illness was roundly dismissed by Juventus team doctor, Ricardo Agricola, who called the idea "ridiculous".

It could be that Pessotto's depression or illness was linked to a very obvious problem, namely handling that difficult moment when a footballer finally decides to hang up his boots.