Entire Juventus board resigns

[IAceI]

AC can enter Champions League too now. So it's just going to back to the way it was sooner or later.

Fucking shit.

[Guest muddatrucker]

I guess they wanted it to look like they'd done something, maybe UEFA should step in and do something, threaten to kick Italian football out of their affiliation or something.

[Dan]

UEFA or FIFA need to do something.

[therockbox]

Typical Italians, knew this was going to happen when that sports minister was saying they shouldn't be punished at all because Italy won the world cup.

[Guest muddatrucker]

Are the people who held the appeal the same people who made the verdict a week or so ago? what could possibly of changed?

[Dan]

Money entering their pockets.

[fineintent]

Corrupt fucking bastardios.

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

It's bastardi. Bastardo = bastard, bastardi = bastards. But then again Dirty Johnny should be telling us this .

Oh well, I'm happy for Milan >_>

[9 to 5]

Fucking weak arsed Italians. (N)

[Lowerdeck]

God, Italy really fucking sucks right about now.

Except for the women and the food, that's still good stuff.

[ClaRK! Kent]

Owch. Had anybody from Lazio or Fiorentina left the clubs by that point?

They'd be kicking themselves right now.

PS: Dirty cheating Eye-tie spaghetti-eating corrupt mafiosi! Bastardi!

Is that enough ethnic abuse?

[Lowerdeck]

I think you could have thrown in a couple of racial slurs and talked shit on Dirty Johnny and his family.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Lowerdeck

[Big Red Fury]

You forgot to steriotype their greesy dago hair.

[maninblack]

Looks like they'll keep Juventus as the scapegoat. But damn, the appeals process is just fucked over there.

Wonder how it would've turned out if France won the World Cup

What are the odds of UEFA actually giving tougher sanctions than the Italians?

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

Having seen some of the details that have been released, I think UEFA should only honestly intervene in the case of Juve. They're the only team that actually put money in a referee's hand and told him to call stuff that isn't there to win them games. They ought to be relegated even more.

While I'm not sure what Milan did, Lazio and Fiorentina probably deserve the appealed punisment. They only got certain people into the committee that picks the referees for the matches, which is actually legal in England (and which was apparently pointed out by their attorneys repeatedly). There was no real foul play within the game itself, more like foul play within the rules of the game. So basically, blame England for the Italians not getting relegated

[9 to 5]

So basically, blame England for the Italians not getting relegated.

That's pretty much how UEFA works anyway.

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

Apparently the only evidence against Milan was that Juve named them and that a coaching consultant made "idle boasts" to a linesman during a game. Yeah, okay, that's a really good reason to punish someone

[Guest Chasing Ringy]

Okay, so I was wrong, Fiorentina was involved in match fixing, but that was apparently due various extortions at the hands of Juventus. FSW's Bobby McMahon (A Scot who I'd say is one of three good pundits in North America) posted a good summary of the whole situation and charges on his blog:

It has not been easy for non-Italian soccer fans to follow the specifics of the scandal that has engulfed Italian soccer the last few months. I have pieced together from various sources the charges, the original punishments, the appeal punishments, the reaction and finally my take on the present situation.

In some cases, the information has been paraphrased or the tense changed.

The Background and Charges - Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio and Milan.

“How did this investigation begin?

Police, looking into an alleged betting ring wagering on matches in the 2004-05 season, heard a suspect boast that he had a close relationship with Luciano Moggi, the Juventus general manager at the time. This was not true, but police tapped Moggi’s phone and heard him trying to influence the appointment of referees. The transcripts were handed over to the Italian FA in September and were leaked in May after it became clear that there was little likelihood of further action.

Who is also involved?

Five other clubs — Siena, Reggina, Messina and Lecce in Serie A, plus Arezzo in Serie B — have also been indicted but, because they did not qualify for European competition, will be dealt with later.

Will anyone be jailed?

Not at this stage. This was a sporting court, but it means the threshold of proof is lower than in a civil trial or criminal trial.

What were the clubs and individuals accused of?

Attempting to fix a match, fixing a match and failing to report match-fixing or similar “unsporting” behaviour.

Why are Juventus facing the most severe penalty?

Lazio, Fiorentina and Milan stand accused of far lesser crimes. Milan had a consultant who made idle boasts to linesmen. Fiorentina were victimized by match officials controlled by Moggi until the club agreed to stop campaigning against the Juventus general manager, at which point they got a few favourable decisions late in the season and avoided relegation. Lazio lobbied league officials, but there is no evidence that they spoke to anyone involved with referees.”

The Times

“Alleged that Moggi and Giraudo set up a system of influence and corruption whose tentacles reached everywhere, a structure based on threats, intimidation and patronage whose main purpose was to favour Juventus and their allies.

The transcripts of these conversations unveiled the sheer size of Moggi’s operation. There were no bribes or brown envelopes, the evil genius of the system lay in the fact that it was all about influence peddling. Moggi is alleged to have essentially controlled Franco Carraro, the head of the Italian FA, and the two men charged with assigning referees, Pierluigi Pairetto and Paolo Bergamo. The phone taps show Moggi would freely discuss the referee assignments with them, effectively deciding which referee would get which game.

At the same time, it was made clear that a referee’s career would suffer if they made mistakes which damaged Juventus. They would be suspended or sent to officiate in Serie B. In one case, Moggi went even further, underscoring the degree of impunity he had acquired. Following a controversial 2-1 loss to Reggina, he burst into referee Gianluca Paparesta’s dressing room, berated him, then locked him inside before disappearing with the key. On the other hand, those that did Moggi’s bidding would be rewarded with prestigious matches and even spots in Uefa’s list of officials. And those officials who were deemed “untouchable” – like Pierluigi Collina and Roberto Rosetti – were generally kept away from Juve.

As a result, they generally received a helping hand from officials, both directly and indirectly. Teams who were due to face Juventus the following week were regularly hit with a hail of red and yellow cards, ensuring players who were one booking away from a suspension would miss out against the bianconeri. Indeed, during 2004-05, 25 players were suspended the week they faced Juve.

Moggi’s system was so refined that it was used to damage his enemies too. When Fiorentina returned to Serie A in the 2004-05 season, the Florence club had big plans for change. However, allegations claim Moggi saw the club as a threat and Fiorentina were systematically victimized by referees to the point that, as late as April 2005, they faced the threat of relegation.

The allegations also claim that wire-taps suggest there was a deal with Fiorentina officials, whereby the club would drop its campaign for reform in exchange for “better treatment” from referees. It’s unclear whether Fiorentina accepted, though the record books show that they won eight of a possible 12 points in their last four matches to avoid the drop, at a time when the Viola stopped talking about reform.”

The Sunday Herald

The Original Verdicts and Verdicts on Appeal

“A brief rundown of the original sentences and again after the appeals verdicts were delivered.

Juventus

Relegated to Serie B with a 30-point penalty – reduced to relegation to Serie B and a 17-point penalty

Stripped of last two titles

Handed three-match home ban

Fined 120,000 euros

Fiorentina

Relegated to Serie B with a 12 point penalty – remain in Serie A with 19 point penalty

Deducted 30 points from their 2005-06 tally

Handed three-match home ban

Fined 100,000 euros

Lazio

Relegated to Serie B with a 7 point penalty – remain in Serie A with 11 point penalty

Deducted 30 points from their 2005-06 tally

Handed two-match home ban

Fined 100,000 euros

Milan

Deducted 44 points from 2005-06 tally – reduced to 30 points from their 2005-06 tally

Remain in Serie A with a 15-point penalty – reduced to an 8-point penalty

Handed one-match home ban

Fined 100,000 euros

Qualify for 3rd round Champions League subject to UEFA acceptance.

Club officials

Luciano Moggi (ex-Juventus) banned for five years

Antonio Giraudo (ex-Juventus) banned for five years

Adriano Galliani (Milan) banned for nine months

Leonardo Meani (ex-Milan) banned for two years and six months

Andrea Della Valle (Fiorentina) banned for three years

Diego Della Valle (Fiorentina) banned for three years

Sandro Mencucci (Fiorentina) banned for two years and six months

Claudio Lotito (Lazio) banned for two years and six months

FIGC officials

Franco Carraro (ex-President) fined 80,000 euros

Innocenzo Mazzini (ex-Vice-President) banned for five years

Referees and officials

Tullio Lanese banned for two years and six months

Pierluigi Pairetto banned for three years

Gennaro Mazzei banned for six months

Pietro Ingargiola cautioned

Massimo De Santis banned for four years

Paolo Dondarini cleared

Gianluca Paparesta banned for three months

Fabrizio Babini banned for six months

Claudio Puglisi banned for six months”

Channel 4

The Reaction

“Juventus' former general manager Luciano Moggi and other club executives were found guilty of conspiring with referees and linesmen to rig games during the 2004-05 season.

Italy's system of 'sporting justice' offers one more level of appeal for the club, the Chamber of Arbitration of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), before they can turn to a civil court

"It would have been OK to have Serie A with penalty points and maybe one, not two, of our titles revoked and they shouldn't have removed us from the Champions League," said Cobolli Gigli of Juventus.

Of the four clubs charged, only AC Milan, who had their sentence reduced allowing them to play in the qualifying round of the Champions League next season, have said they will not be appealing the decision.”

The Guardian

Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, the president of Juventus, was equally pugnacious. “We are very disappointed and we refuse to be turned into scapegoats,” he said. “We don’t understand why we’ve been treated more harshly than everybody else. You can be sure that we will appeal in the strongest possible terms. We owe it to our fans and to our shareholders.”

The scandal — the biggest in the history of Italian football — centred on what prosecutors called a “pathological web of influence-peddling” skilfully manoeuvred by Luciano Moggi, the former general manager of Juventus.

With the support of the highest echelons of the Italian FA, as well as an array of agents and journalists, Moggi effectively controlled a number of referees, promising career advancement to those officials who favoured his club and “punishing” others with relegation to minor matches and lower leagues. Fiorentina, Lazio and Milan had faced lesser charges and the court was persuaded that their misdeeds were a means of self-defence against Moggi’s “system”.”

The Times

But the cut on appeal has met with an angry reaction around Italy. "This is not a hard punishment, this is a bland punishment," said Alessandro Vocalelli, the editor of the Corriere dello Sport. "This is a message that nothing happened but actually a lot happened - the biggest scandal in Italian football happened, and lots of referees and individuals got banned for five years."

With only the tapped phone calls as evidence, much wrongdoing is a question of interpretation. The evidence on Lazio, for example, points at one disputed game.

Rules of the Italian Code of Sporting Justice only require the clubs to appear to be trying to fix a game. No actual evidence of money changing hands is needed to condemn them.

Oddly, a delegation from the Turkish football league were in Rome yesterday, to observe how the Italians had dealt with their probe and to make recommendations to the Turkish FA. Denizlispor are accused of rigging a game last season to avoid relegation. "An inquest will be held," promised Kemal Kapulluoglu, the Turkish FA's vice-president”.

The Daily Telegraph

My Take

Juventus is very lucky still to be in any league let alone getting away with relegation to Serie B and a 17-point penalty. The level of manipulation grossly exceeded that of Genoa at the end of the 2004/05 season and they were demoted the equivalent of two divisions to Serie C given that their promotion to Serie A was rightfully annulled. They have got off very lightly.

Fiorentina and Lazio’s original sentences – in comparison to Juventus and I stress the words in comparison – seemed overly harsh to me. The appeal verdicts do not seem out of line however.

It seems commonly accepted that in Milan’s case there was no systematic attempt to influence games on an on-going basis. In fact, their “attempt” was a bit comical given that the focus was on an assistant referee. A sort of poor-man’s attempt compared to Moggi. Perhaps it could be argued – actually it was argued – that the penalty deduction was too high. Maybe – but I do not believe they should have been reinstated to the Champions League and I hope that UEFA refuse to accept their nomination.

In terms of perception the reduction of sentencing on appeal gives the overall impression that the four teams involved have been let off lightly – and in some cases they have. However, if the original sentences had held up we would heard and read less furour.

[Steeb]

Can someone clarify for me what these 'three-match home ban's are?

[TheArsenal]

Can someone clarify for me what these 'three-match home ban's are?