[Archived] Italian Refereeing Scandal

[herbergeehh]

Zambrotta also wants to stay in Italy, according to reports. Milan might be his destination.. don't think many of the players will join the EPL, except Vieira.

[philipl]

If the players and their agents like money, they will be in the Premiersahip. If they are all Italian lovers and patriotic philanthropists, they will stay in Italy.

Juve taking a massive hit on TV rights: http://www.thesoccerforum.net/archives/93

There will be a lot of blame passing between Sky Executives and their lawyers at the moment!

[Shaddy]

What annoys me about this whole saga is that Fiorentina should not be around in the first place.

[herbergeehh]

Because they fixed their economical problems and won promotion? If that's what you find most "annoying" with this football tragedy, I would ask you to check out Spanish clubs' economy the last ten years.

[philipl]

Update/correction.

The appeals procedure starts on 22 July and is expected to conclude after the 29 July deadline for submitting European competition nominations. So assuming Empoli are let into the UEFA, that particular die is cast.

All four clubs are appealing their sentences whilst the prosecutor is also appealing on the grounds of excess leniency. He wants AC in Serie B and Juve in Serie C.

[Oklahoma]

Go prosecutor!!!

[SouthAussieRover]

Update/correction.

The appeals procedure starts on 22 July and is expected to conclude after the 29 July deadline for submitting European competition nominations. So assuming Empoli are let into the UEFA, that particular die is cast.

All four clubs are appealing their sentences whilst the prosecutor is also appealing on the grounds of excess leniency. He wants AC in Serie B and Juve in Serie C.

Hey Mr Google, two more clubs possibly caught with their fingers in the marmalade.

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/...ual_133151.html

[philipl]

Fiorentina, Lazio, Udinese, Siena, Messina, Arezzo and Avellino are all being investigated along with Juventus. Three of the above mention teams are being investigated for match fixing and most likely if found guilty be relegated. The other clubs remaining are either victims or accomplices of Moggi’s match fixing. At least Inter, Milan and Roma have not been mentioned and I wonder what could be going through the management’s minds of these teams. It is a very desperate situation indeed.

The new information coming out of this investigation is that Franco Carraro who resigned as chief of the Italian Football Federation as a result of this scandal knew about these wrong doings, as did the heads of the referee selection committee of the 2004/2005 season, Luigi Pairetto and Paolo Bergamo.

I am beginning to believe that the Scudetto had already been decided at the beginning of the season, not by the players but men in the boardroom. All the pressure on Milan and Inter to win the Scudetto was useless since it seems the outcome had already been decided.

Football, unfortunately, has become a sport where men with suits and ties decide the outcome of a game and not the athletes and team effort.

All the dubious plays and calls of referees this season and in other seasons seem to be making sense now. I don’t know how many times this year Juve have had final calls that always decided a game in their favour.

That was taken from the local Maltese paper. I have seen it reported that a separate Sporting Tribunal altogether will look at Udinese, Siena, Messina, Arezzo and Avellino and that Messina's reinstatement into Serie A (they were relegated last season) is very much in doubt. The Sporting Life article is completely unclear as to whether the two additional clubs are completely new to the scandal.

The terms of reference of the Sporting Tribunal which handed down the relegations and points deductions was only seasons 2004/5 and 2005/6.

Roberto Mancini of Internationale said publicly when the scandal broke that Juve had been match fixing since 2001. Presumably in the intervening period, his deposition has been taken and could well be in the 300 additional pages of material now being considered.

Edited July 19, 2006 by philipl

[Grabbi Graeme]

SSN are reporting that Cannavaro and Emerson have signed for Real Madrid in a combined £30.7 million deal.

[Florida Rover]

And this site suggests that FC Barcelona have agreed fees with Juve for Thuram and Zambrotta for 19 million pounds!

[Eddie]

Really not worth it.

[neekoy]

Really not worth it.

So who was Man Utd going to buy again mate?

[tchocky]

Meanwhile it looks like Vieira is set to sign for Inter, along with one of Trezeguet, Zlatan or Toni.

[tchocky]

SSN are reporting that Cannavaro and Emerson have signed for Real Madrid in a combined £30.7 million deal.

More like 20 million euros (£13.7million). And it's just the fee agreed between the two clubs, however I can't see there being much of a problem agreeing personal terms.

[Eddie]

So who was Man Utd going to buy again mate?

I just said it was a possibility. I have no idea whether or not Ferguson's comments actually meant that they had a serious interest and put in bids. Given the fact that no one has reported a United bid it suggests that they haven't. My point was that if they put in a bid they would stand a very strong chance of getting the players, as United always do.

[G Somerset Rover]

I think that the two deals struck by Madrid and Barca represent bargains. Cannavaro and Emerson will finally provide the defensive stability that Madrid need and Zambrotta and Thuram will ensure that Gio Van Bronkhorst and Oleguer do not have to pull on the jerseys again.

[herbergeehh]

With Capello in charge, Real Madrid will be a major force again next season. Emerson is a defensively solid midfielder, in-form one of the most complete players there is, and Cannavaro can be their Puyol in the heart of the defence, perhaps alongside Ramos.

I don't really think United standed much of a chance even if they tried, mate, the EPL are not first choice for a lot of the Italian-based players - I'm actually surprised that they left Serie A in the first place. (but since Inter and Roma are the only real choices for these big stars, they were kind of forced to for several reasons, I guess.)

Edited July 22, 2006 by herbergeehh

[philipl]

The Appeals verdict will be delivered on Tuesday. Both Lazio and Fiorentina have stated they are going to the Civil Courts to contest the verdict so they seem to be pretty cerain about the outcome!

Meantime, a new Sporting Tribunal is convening in Naples to hear the case of Reggina's use of the "Moggi Method" in seven games over the last two seasons. With still five more named clubs being investigated and one more under suspicion, quite where is all this ending up?

Not directly related but Reggio di Calabria has one scary airport to fly into. On my last (and it will be the last given the choice) flight there, I was enormously grateful to the A319's fly-by-wire system. First the captain stalled us so the engines went full power with a big kick in the back treating us to a roaring fly between two hills then we had an aborted landing on the dinky little runway.

Sure Reggio is notorious for wind shere and sudden tail winds off the mountains but it turned out the Captain was handed over by Catania to Reggiana... only Reggiana had forgotten to answer. So we were powered down, under carriage down and wing flap extensions forgotten about as the Captain was yelling at Reggiana Control Tower for clearance half way through final approach.

Relegation to C2 would seem the least appropriate verdict...

[philipl]

There seemsto be a head of steam building behind reports that Juve's 30 points penalty for next season will be reduced but that AC's penalty will be increased.

In a further blow to Italian "big clubs", the FIGC voted to bring in collective bargaining for Serie A clubs for 2007/8 thus ending the ability of individual clubs to negotiate their own deals and favourable coverage.

This looks like a £50m+ hit to Juve and counting...

[Ozz]

oops

Edited July 23, 2006 by ozziejones

[Perth_Rover]

Does fiorentina still think they will hold onto toni? I heard there president saying eariler he was going nowhere

[Eddie]

They were helped by his showings in the World Cup.

[philipl]

A general overview on the continuing impact on Italian football for some time to come:

http://www.footballingworld.com/index.php?..._from=&ucat=84&

The financial impact begins to be assessed:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/23/business/tv24.php

[Modi]

Juve still down, Fiorentina and Lazio in Serie A, but with negative points start. (-11 and -19).

Juve's points reduced to -17.

Milan start -7

Edited July 25, 2006 by Modi

[Eddie]

Surprise, surprise.