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[Archived] Italian Match Fixing Scandal

philipl

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philipl World Cup

philipl

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The scandal engulfing Italian football seems to be gaining little coverage in the UK at present.

The most interesting aspect is that it had until recently largely involved lower league clubs and players so far- mostly Serie B where there have been I believe some 54 arrests.

The New York Times included the following two days ago:

After Scandal in Soccer, Italy’s Leader Urges Break

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

Published: May 29, 2012

ROME — In his efforts to save Italy from the brink of economic disaster, Prime Minister Mario Monti has repeatedly incurred the wrath of taxpayers and pensioners upset by the severity of his measures.

Mr. Monti may have made new enemies on Tuesday when he suggested that soccer in Italy be suspended for two or three years in the wake of a match-fixing scandal that shook the country’s most beloved sport this week.

Fourteen people were taken into custody on Monday, including the Lazio team’s captain, Stefano Mauri, and a former player with Genoa, Omar Milanetto.

On its Web site, the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, which organizes and manages Italian soccer, said that other people had been placed under house arrest and that two individuals had been released but had to report daily to the authorities.

The arrests are part of a broader investigation by prosecutors in Cremona, Bari and Naples that involves several major league teams and dozens of suspects, according to Italian news reports.

It was just six years ago that another match-fixing scandal shook Italy. It resulted in Juventus’s being temporarily demoted from Italy’s top league, Serie A, with three other teams — Lazio, Fiorentina and A. C. Milan — also being penalized and a number of soccer officials and executives being singled out for punishment.

The same Juventus team now reigns as the current Serie A champion. However, its coach, Antonio Conte, finds himself ensnared in the current scandal, having been placed under investigation for possible wrongdoing while previously coaching Siena.

During a news conference Tuesday with Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, which with Ukraine is co-host of the European soccer championship, starting June 8, Mr. Monti expressed what he insisted was a personal opinion — not an official proposal — “that it would really benefit the maturity of us Italian citizens if this game was completely suspended” for two to three years.

Mr. Monti said he shuddered at the idea that the world of professional soccer, which should value sportsmanslike conduct, had become mired in reprehensible qualities like “treachery, illegality and falseness,” and known for its hooligan supporters.

The Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio’s president, Giancarlo Abete, said that he understood Mr. Monti’s bitterness, but that suspending the game was not the solution.

The scandal “is a very ugly page in our soccer,” Mr. Abete said, and those found guilty of wrongdoing must be sanctioned.

Still, “stopping the championships would mean mortifying all soccer, penalizing those who work honestly, which are the majority in our system, and losing thousands of jobs,” he told the Italian news agency ANSA.

On Monday, the police searched the national team’s training camp in Coverciano, and notified the defender Domenico Criscito that he was under investigation “for facts that occurred when he was signed with the Genoa club,” the F.I.G.C. said on its Web site. Mr. Criscito was left off the roster for the national team for Euro 2012.

Andrea Monti, editor in chief of Gazzetta dello Sport, one of Italy’s most respected sports dailies, and no relation to the country’s prime minister, said: “I know Mr. Monti was speaking from the heart, but what would we say if president Obama suggested, speaking personally, that the N.B.A. be halted. When political corruption emerges, we don’t say, ‘Let’s shut down Parliament.’ ”

Halting Italian soccer would mean a considerable economic loss and cost thousands of Italians their jobs, said Mr. Monti, the editor. “It is a vital center of the national economy that lives off its image and sponsors,” he said.

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Relegation League One

Relegation

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I'd be more interested in seeeing the global betting on Rovers relegation, after watching that interview with the talking coconut.

After reading up on global match fixing scandals and considering india is highly corrupted, the thought has crossed my mind as well....

Italy been messed up though.

Meanwhile, mr blatter is by his pool being fed grapes by a young berlusconi acquaintance. and doing absolutely nothing else.

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Baz World Cup

Baz

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A pal who bets heavily & scours websites/forums for inside info reckons he has made a lot of money on Croatian football - their domestic league in recent seasons had a high proliferation of games with 7, 8, 9 or more goals scored and inordinate instances of sides coming back from 3 down at ht to draw or win.

Games in Italy ending in draws among teams with effectively nothing to play for towards the end of seasons are evidently another high earner for him

He also tipped me off that there would be a weekend where numerous games in Italy would finish 0-0. Of course I took no heed whatsoever and a couple of weeks later about 8 out of 10 ended goalless, he reckoned you could have accumulated about 75,000 to 1 over the weekend!

Let me know if he has any other hot tips! ;-)

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Hasta

Hasta

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A pal who bets heavily & scours websites/forums for inside info reckons he has made a lot of money on Croatian football - their domestic league in recent seasons had a high proliferation of games with 7, 8, 9 or more goals scored and inordinate instances of sides coming back from 3 down at ht to draw or win.

Games in Italy ending in draws among teams with effectively nothing to play for towards the end of seasons are evidently another high earner for him

He also tipped me off that there would be a weekend where numerous games in Italy would finish 0-0. Of course I took no heed whatsoever and a couple of weeks later about 8 out of 10 ended goalless, he reckoned you could have accumulated about 75,000 to 1 over the weekend!

It's fairly standard to see end of season games in Italy where both teams require a draw to see the draw trading 4/6 or shorter. Would never happen over here but is common place over there.

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Audax Champions League

Audax

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Hasta, you are correct. A number of countries have this problem but in 2006, Calciopoli. I read the John Foot book, "Winning at any cost" and Italy has had a lot of great players but they've also had a lot of this match fixing. It's really in the system and I can't understand why and also why someone would bet on at least a lot of Italian football. They had a minor scandal about a year and a half ago but this looks like another major one.

To be fair, there might be some of this that goes on in Spain from what I've heard but it flies under the radar and even Belgium had something like this in the past several years. Hey, don't forget, Italy's big star of the 1982 World Cup, Paolo Rossi was coming off a ban from Match Fixing. Don't forget a lot of people say Leeds got ripped off by a bribed referee around 1972 in the Champions League final against AC Milan, hell, I'm pretty sure around 1980, the great AC Milan themselves got relegated over a scandal. I don't mean to knock Italian footy, it's got its pluses too but they've sure had a lot of this.

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thenodrog World Cup

thenodrog

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Eyebrow raising stuff indeed.

I agree with what Den said above as well, something does NOT add up about the whole thing at Rovers, and IMO the possibility of match-fixing cannot be ruled out.

Den? He hasn't posted on here .....or it's been removed. :huh:

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he6rt6gr6m Premier League

he6rt6gr6m

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The scandal engulfing Italian football seems to be gaining little coverage in the UK at present.

That's because good ol' Murdoch doesn't show Serie A on his channels.

This whole Italian saga is simply showing how all-pervasive match fixing has become....

The fact is, it exists everywhere you look. I highly doubt that we're the ONLY club suffering from this. Some skeptics might say that Aguero's 90-odd minute winner on the final day of the season was suspicious.

I recall Kamy tweeting about a book called 'The Fix', and how similar it could be to Rovers, but haven't gotten round to reading it yet.

The positive thing is that Italy are hitting this head on. It'll probably never eradicate it completely, but it's a start.

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K-Hod World Cup

K-Hod

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Den? He hasn't posted on here .....or it's been removed. :huh:

Looks like it was removed, as it was initially directly above mine Theno...

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