A wonderful article on "Il Foglio": gotta read it! (2 Viewers)

isha00

Senior Member
Jun 24, 2003
5,115
#1
I found this wonderful (and very informative) article on "Il Foglio", an Italian newspaper and I translated it. Enjoy!

Dovrei scrivere di Juventus, parlo di Inter. Della Juve ha detto tutto il presidente della Corte federale, Piero Sandulli, mica Luciano Moggi: “Non ci sono illeciti, era tutto regolare, quel campionato non è stato falsato, l’unico dubbio riguarda la partita Lecce-Parma”. E allora, direte, perché mai la B, due scudetti tolti, la Champions, la A tra due anni (basta fare i conti) e la nonna stuprata? Lo ha spiegato l’altro giudice della Corte, tal Mario Serio from Palermo, Sicily: “Abbiamo cercato di interpretare un sentimento collettivo, abbiamo ascoltato la gente comune e provato a metterci sulla lunghezza d’onda”. Molto, molto, molto serio. Nonché la conferma che l’imbroglio non era moggiopoli, ma calciopulitopoli. A questa panzana chiamata calciopoli poteva credere soltanto un paese ridicolo come il nostro e ora lo confermano anche loro, i giustizieri. Quindi è successo questo: era tutto regolare, ma siccome gli ubriachi del bar sotto la curva sud chiedevano di inchiappettare la Juve, i giudici si sono dovuti adeguare. Ma se “sentimento collettivo” aveva da essere, non avrebbero fatto prima con un semplice colpo alla nuca a Moggi Luciano?

Complimenti all’Inter, dunque. Ai campioni d’Italia. Io, per esempio, appena mettono in vendita il dvd del loro trionfo sportivo, me lo compro subito. Vuoi mettere rivedere Camoranesi far fesso uno dei 17 argentini di Mancini, mettere al centro la formidabile palla con cui poi Ibra fa fessi altri tre sudamericani per il gol dell’uno a zero? Volendo, potrei anche recuperare la bandierina nerazzurra col 14esimo scudetto, quella raccattata dalle parti dell’Olimpico un pomeriggio del maggio 2002. Non so se avete presente: era il giorno in cui l’Inter perse uno scudetto, malgrado la squadra avversaria, compresi i tifosi, avessero fatto di tutto per regalarle il tricolore. Capitò, però, che nella Lazio giocavano un ex interista incazzato perché era stato scaricato e un ceco a cui la stessa Lazio non aveva rinnovato il contratto, mentre nell’Inter c’era il solito incapace difensore di turno. Era una partita aggiustata, quella? Zorro Zeman si sarebbe alzato dalla panchina indignato? Non importa, la palla è comunque rotonda, infatti persero i più scarsi, cioè i neocampioni d’Italia. (CONTINUA)
I saggi di Guido Rossi, peraltro, per sanzionare il campionato “falsato-ma-non-falsato” del 2004-2005, hanno a loro volta falsato quello regolarissimo del 2005-2006, non oggetto di alcuna indagine e con i terribili designatori Pairetto e Bergamo addirittura già in pensione. Ora, finalmente, ho capito qual è il famoso illecito sportivo “concettualmente ammissibile” contestato alla Juve nella prima sentenza Caf. Vi ricordate? La Juventus è stata condannata per aver usufruito di “vantaggi in classifica” diversi da quelli ottenibili dall’alterazione del risultato o dello svolgimento di una partita. Nessuno aveva capito come si potessero ottenere “vantaggi in classifica” senza aver taroccato le partite, ma l’assegnazione dello scudetto all’Inter l’ha spiegato. Eccola la fattispecie delittuosa: è sufficiente che una “temperie” di Palazzo faccia retrocedere la Juve e tolga 30 punti al Milan perché si possa vincere lo scudetto ottenendo “vantaggi in classifica” senza bisogno di taroccare le partite. Illecito sportivo ex articolo 6, secondo la giurisprudenza Caf. Ci fosse un giudice serio con la esse minuscola sarebbe titolo revocato e Inter in B.

Oggi le comiche, quindi, se non fosse che poi gli interisti credono davvero di essere la squadra degli onesti, come quel partito di La Malfa di cui oggi nessuno ricorda più il nome. Onesti, qualsiasi cosa voglia dire e malgrado due mesi fa – in piena calciopoli – un loro alto dirigente e un loro calciatore (Gabriele Oriali e Alvaro Recoba) abbiano patteggiato in un tribunale ordinario una pena a sei mesi di reclusione per aver falsificato un passaporto, cioè per aver tesserato un extracomunitario che non avrebbe potuto giocare. Onestissimi, qualunque cosa significhi e nonostante dieci giorni fa il Sole 24 Ore abbia raccontato di un aiutino da 60-80 milioni di euri ricevuto dalla Federcalcio guidata come un sol uomo dall’avvocato Rossi. L’Inter aveva compiuto un’operazione di “cosmesi contabile”, realizzando una plusvalenza fittizia di 158 milioni di euro. Quando la Covisoc – che è la Consob del calcio – ha chiesto all’Inter di ricapitalizzare per 100 milioni, pena la mancata iscrizione al prossimo campionato, l’Inter si è rivolta alla Federcalcio che, alè, le ha fatto uno sconticino del 60 per cento. Siccome la notizia è uscita su un giornale color salmone, e non su quello rosa che nei bar si trova sul bancone dei gelati, nessuno ha avvertito il bisogno di mettersi “sulla lunghezza d’onda” del “sentimento collettivo” che, evidentemente, considera Mancini un grande allenatore e Burdisso meglio di Zambrotta.

Quanto alla Juve, cosa volete che aggiunga su una società che ieri sera non aveva ancora commentato il furto di scudetto? Ci fossero quegli antipatici di Giraudo e Moggi, starei tranquillo: sfiderebbero Rossi a venirseli a riprendere, quei due trofei da campioni d’Italia, e li farebbero difendere da Paolo Montero, Ciro Ferrara e Sergio Brio.

I should write about Juventus, I’ll talk about Inter. About Juventus everything was said by Piero Sandulli, the president of the federal court, not by Luciano Moggi: “There aren't any illicit behaviors, everything was regular, that championship wasn’t falsified, the only doubt was about Lecce-Parma”. And so, you’ll say, why B, 2 scudetti taken away, A in 2 years (if you think about it) and a raped grandma? This was explained by another judge of the court, a certain Mario Serio form Palermo, Sicily: “We tried to interpret a collective feeling, we listened to what the common people said and we tried to get in tune with them”. Very, very, very serious. And also the confirmation that the fraud was not moggiopoli, but rather “cleancalciopoli” . This joke called calciopoli could only be believed by our joke-of-a-country and now also the executioners are confirming it. So this is what happened: everything was legitimate, but since the drunk people of the bar under the curva sud wanted Juve to take it, judges had to make it so. But if they had to follow the “collective feeling”, wasn’t it easier to smack Moggi Luciano’s head?

Congratulations to Inter, then. To the champions of Italy. I, for example, as soon as they’re gonna sell the dvds of their sportive triumphs, will surely buy them. What’s better to see Camoranesi fool one of Mancini's 17 Argentinians and then cross the ball wonderfully, with which Ibra fools 3 other South-Americans to score the 1-0 goal? I could also resume the nerazzurra flag of the 14th scudetto, the one I found close to the Olimpico an afternoon of May 2002. I don’t know if you remember: it was the day Inter lost a scudetto, even if the opponent team, tifosi included, had done their best to give it to them. But it happened that Lazio played an angry-for-having-been-dropped ex-interista and a Czech that hadn’t had his contract renewed by Lazio itself and that Inter played the usual good-for-nothing defender. Was that a fixed match? Would have Zorro Zeman got up and left indignant? It doesn’t matter, the ball is round anyway, in fact it was the weaker ones who lost, the neo-champions of Italy.

Guido Rossi’s wise men, by the way, to punish the falsified-not falsified 2004-05 championship, have falsified the absolutely regular 2005-06 one, that wasn’t the object of any investigation and had Pairetto and Bergamo, the terrible designators, already retired. Now, finally, I understood what the “conceptually admissible” infamous sportive illegalities, the ones that Juve has been accused of in the first Caf verdict, are about. Do you remember? Juventus has been condemned for having had “advantages on the table” different from the ones obtainable by altering the result of a match or the match itself. No one had understood how you can obtain “advantages on the table” without having fixed the matches, but giving the scudetto to Inter has made everything clear. Here it goes: it’s enough having the craziness of the Palace (figc) relegating Juventus and taking 30 points away from Milan to win a scudetto, with the “advatages on the table”, without fixing the matches. Sportive illegality, under article 6, according to Caf’s jurisprudence. If there was a serious, with capital S, judge Inter’s title would be revoked and the club would go to B.

It would be comic, if the interisti didn’t think they really are the honest team. Honest, whatever it means, even if 2 months ago – during calciopoli – an important manager and a player of theirs (Gabriele Oriali and Alvaro Recoba) have negotiated in an ordinary court 6 months of jail for having falsified a passport, that means for having made part of the club an "outside the community player" who shouldn’t have been made able to play. Very honest, whatever it means, even if 10 days ago “Sole 24 Ore” has written about a little (60-80 millions €) help by Federcalcio (figc), guided by Lawyer Rossi. Inter had done a “cosmetic-accounting” operation, getting a fake 158 millions euro worth of plus-valence. When Covisoc –Calcio’s Consob (the organization that watches over firms in the stock markets)- told Inter that they wouldn’t be able to be part of next season's Serie A if they didn’t recapitalize 100 millions Euro, Inter appealed to Federcalcio and, boom, they received a 60% discount. Since the news appeared on a salmon coloured newspaper (Sole24Ore, Italy’s most important financial newspaper) and not on a pink one, that you can find in bars over the ice-cream fridge, no one felt the need to “get in tune” with the “collective feeling” that, obviously, considers Mancini a great coach and Burdisso better than Zambrotta.

And about Juve, what can I add about a club that, as of yesterday night, had still to denounce the scudetto-robbing? If there were Giraudo and Moggi I would be serene: they would dare Rossi to go himself to take those 2 Champions-of-Italy trophies and they would put Paolo Montero, Ciro Ferrara and Sergio Brio to defend them.


(Many thanks to Tifoso Lou for having helped me translating :))
 

Buy on AliExpress.com

Jun-hide

Senior Member
Dec 16, 2002
2,068
#2
Thanks Isha, that is a great article and I appreciate your translation btw!:D .
Obviously Italian papers have much better sources and info than those British based media *cough* Channel 4 Italian Football *cough*.

Pretty much confirmed what I have been suspecting. The sentence to teams were given in ad hoc way completely ignoring rationale that any reasonable humans should do and systematically favoring some teams over others.
Nonetheless, I have couple of points to make which I disagree.

Firstly, there is no doubt in my mind, without evidence or not, Moggi did try to influence some of the decisions by referees. As a fan watching many Juve matches, I must admit we did get one two many calls for my comfort. Now I know there isnt any direct evidence to prove this, but then again in life it is extremely difficult to prove someone else's wrong doing beyond any reasonable doubt. Hence, personally I am not a great fan of so called Anglo-Saxon tradition of law whereby one is not guilty unless proven. While such system reduces the probability of convicting the innocent unnecessarily, the flip side is that it allows some of the blatant criminals to get away with it.
To give an example, I am pretty sure that Roman Abramovic is a sure criminal with possible mafia links, and he bribed Russian authorities during those rigged loan-share privatisation deals. Now I haven't got direct evidence to prove myself, that doesnt change my opinion that he is criminal got away blatant thief because of the system of law. As a betting man, I am sure that my side of odds are far better than the opponents.

The issue with the trial IMO is not so much that Juve got punished but the whole way the trials been conducted and the lack of rationale for the sentence.
I feel wrong people got punished for somebody else's crime, and god knows why relegation was deemed necessary. There are many ways to punish the teams, and I argue to this day relegation was most inefficient, and unfair outcome of all.
And how come Milan who definetely has direct evidence that they asked for referee's favor could shockingly comeout without any penalties?!!
They are in the CL, and now CONI is virtually going to wipe out mere 7point penalty? Please~ I think Rossi is doing his best to insult the intelligence of everyday men and women.

Isha is there any chance we can directly sue Rossi & the sporting tribunal for the unfair treatment we received during this whole facade?
 
OP
isha00

isha00

Senior Member
Jun 24, 2003
5,115
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #4
    Jun-hide,
    We should firstly win an appeal. Then I'm sure Moggi and Giraud would do their best to get revenge, while I'm not sure (=I'm sure they won't) about our club's managers.

    Anyway, it is true that there have been some mistakes in our favour in the past, but it's also true that we weren't the only club having a ref making a mistake in their favour (last year's Supercup is an example). This is because refs are human and humans make mistakes. No one would have intentionally helped a big club, simply because when it happened (sorry, when it happened to Juve) the media bashed the poor guys for weeks and because they wouldn't have got any prize (€$€) for it.

    They have analyzed over and over again their so called proofs and didn't find, by their own admission, anything. No fixed match, no corrupted ref, no exchange of money. Nothing. And in sportive trials they didn't have to have proof, some suspects weren't enough. Our -17 B is curtesy of Inter and their Guido Rossi.

    I don't agree on being guilty until proven innocent. There was no indication Moggi did something illegal, I don't think it's right having him to pay mostly because of his reputation. Like I think it's better having a probable criminal out than an innocent in jail for something he didn't do, because for an Abramovich in jail, you have many other normal innocent people that will have their life ruined by an odd. Point of views.

    Changing topic, Italian journalists are not all like this one writing the article, the majority is still wiriting the things that the British based media copy for their articles :wink:
     

    Jun-hide

    Senior Member
    Dec 16, 2002
    2,068
    #5
    I understand your points and to certain extent I believe they are valid.:) .
    There is no doubt that referees are human beings and they are liable to make mistakes. I have witnessed some very questionable decisions that went against us, as much as going for us. However, the calls in general do seem to favor Juve overall. Then again, big teams being favored is not a unique case confined to Italia. It seems to me Real and Man U definetely gets the same favoritism that Juve enjoys and if we are relegated on the basis of refereeing bias and so should they.

    So, obviously, the issue should be whether Moggi tried to influence the result systematically using his powers.
    Now touching on some of Moggi's misdoings - It is hard to believe given the number of calls he made and the position he is in, he is phoning referees to check whether they had a pizza or not for the dinner.
    As one of the article in guardian mentioned Moggi is all about friendship - he gives you this and he will want that. Although I am not an Italian, it isnt hard to understand the nature of business going on and we must not forget a lot of communication is implict whereby only those engaging in the act could decipher its meaning. What I do believe that there is a strong cicurmstancial evidence which suggests Moggi may have been upto something, and calling referees IMO should not be allowed in all cases anyway.
    Moggi & Giraudo, IMO, should therefore be punished without any shadow of doubt. I may be too extreme in calling jail sentence for their crimes, but they deserve some sort of punishment and the failure to do so IMO sends wrong message to those 19 managers running other clubs.

    However, I completely agree with you on that Rossi is being a complete jerk over this case. There is no doubt he wanted Juve to get relegated without hearing proceedings, and made sure that was the case. With no disrespect to the man, that is not the way the president of football federation should conduct oneself, and I am amazed by his lack of clear standards. If such a man is to run the Italian Calcio, I fear similar scandal may breakout sometime in the future.
    If Milan starts the season with no penalty point - all I can say is that Italia will be mocked by just about every single country in the world.
    I am sure this trial was partly initiated to clean the country's image by targeting politically weak but worldwide famous soccer teams, but such outcome will only have reverse effect.

    Isha what is the chance that Juve will win appeal and be re-instated in Serie A?
     

    V

    Senior Member
    Jun 8, 2005
    20,110
    #9
    • V

      V

    the more i think about it, the more i am disgusted a team like inter is the champion. it wouldn't hurt so much if it was milan. inter didn't deserve it, not by a long shot.
     

    C4ISR

    Senior Member
    Dec 18, 2005
    2,362
    #10
    nice article. thx for posting it.

    Really is a jk how this trial has been handled. The part the angers me the most, is that the majority of ppl around the globe have no clue about the scandal other than whats been fed to them.
     

    swag

    L'autista
    Administrator
    Sep 23, 2003
    83,441
    #11
    vlatko said:
    the more i think about it, the more i am disgusted a team like inter is the champion. it wouldn't hurt so much if it was milan. inter didn't deserve it, not by a long shot.
    Sort of makes you wonder who the real "cheaters" are out there, doesn't it? :shifty:
     

    V

    Senior Member
    Jun 8, 2005
    20,110
    #12
    • V

      V

    swag said:
    Sort of makes you wonder who the real "cheaters" are out there, doesn't it? :shifty:
    exactly. it's really frustrating. when i saw that vieira pick with the inter jersey and the scudetto badge, it made me sick. it's totally unfair, utterly disgusting.
     

    sateeh

    Day Walker
    Jul 28, 2003
    8,020
    #13
    I didnt understand that part about inter and the stockmarket with the 80million.

    On the discussion about referees favouritsim, it was not only happening to juve.I saw with milan and inter quite often in 04-05 and especially Inter last season.Big teams r always favoured, that has been always the case.ffs even the WC , the samething happend and u could see almost every 50 50 call is being given to the " bigger" team..And that wont change imo for a long long time.

    Iam actually slightly optimistic abt the appeals, after reading that figc r going to offer us a deal then i think we r in the best position to be in yet.They wouldnt offer us any deal until they know that we could 1-get something better from the appeals 2-the appeals would delay the season kickoff even further
    in both cases i think we should stick with the courts unless serie A with an understandable point deduction is offered

    Anyway great article and thnx isha and tifoso for the translation
     
    OP
    isha00

    isha00

    Senior Member
    Jun 24, 2003
    5,115
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #16
    You're very welcome, guys :)

    sateeh said:
    I didnt understand that part about inter and the stockmarket with the 80million.
    Since they had a pretty impressive "hole" in their finances, a couple of months ago Inter decided to cover it with a plus-valence made by selling* their logo for about 160 millions €. Of course the plus-valence was fake and they were told to recapitalize to be part of Serie A. 100 millions were a lot of money, though, so Rossi got them a 60% discount.

    * They sold their logo to a bank for 160 millions, having to buy it back in 10 years. It's an operation that the supreme court often judged as illegal.

    Jun-hide said:
    What I do believe that there is a strong cicurmstancial evidence which suggests Moggi may have been upto something, and calling referees IMO should not be allowed in all cases anyway.
    Moggi & Giraudo, IMO, should therefore be punished without any shadow of doubt. I may be too extreme in calling jail sentence for their crimes, but they deserve some sort of punishment and the failure to do so IMO sends wrong message to those 19 managers running other clubs.
    If it had been only Moggi and Giraudo I'd agree with you, but we know for sure every manager of every Italian calcio club made such calls. It worked like this for everyone.
    I should have the video of one of the 2 designators confirming this on tv somewhere.

    Isha what is the chance that Juve will win appeal and be re-instated in Serie A?
    If you mean the Coni appeal, I don't know. Rossi will have to decide if it's better putting Juve in A or risk many Tar appeals. It's up to him (figures).
    I'm confident about the ordinary justice, even though they'll be under a lot of pression.


    Ah, in case it wasn't clear: the not-fasified championship Piero Sandulli (the president of the federal court) and Mario Serio are talking about at the beginning of the article is the 2004-05 one. What do you think it means? :(
     

    Vinman

    2013 Prediction Cup Champ
    Jul 16, 2002
    11,481
    #17
    swag said:
    Sort of makes you wonder who the real "cheaters" are out there, doesn't it? :shifty:
    exactly what I've been saying :agree: ........

    Inter, and that scumbag Rossi are the REAL villans here

    if everything we've been reading is accurate, we MUST stay in A, and accept nothing else !!!

    grazie Elisa !!
     

    Jun-hide

    Senior Member
    Dec 16, 2002
    2,068
    #19
    Isha

    I must admit you are putting some very constructive and persuasive arguement, and I rest my case :).

    Just quick review of my previous argument; my argument rested on the premise that (1) Juve cheated and (2) the standard by which sentence is given should be equal for all parties concerned.
    Now the crux of my point was that although Juve was guilty it seems that Juve have been unfairly treated by the sporting tribunal whereby there was a clear lack of basis by which sentenced was given to the guilty party.
    Moreover, I questioned the necessity of relegation from the efficiency perspective, and ignorance of court in that Juve is just a legal entity and appropriate verdict should analyze individual parties involved and their responsibility for this whole facade.

    In truth, despite the your persuasive argument if one had to give me a fair bet whether Moggi and Giraudo cheated or not, then I will say they did. And I won't change my mind unless significant evidence which suggests they did not can be put forward. However, I am very impressed by the structure of your argument which (1) goes beyond the "match-fixing" and (2) questioned the whole issue of sporting justice. Evidently, while I believe Juve in all circumstance did cheat, if the circumstantial evidence used by the court (presumingly since there was no direct evidence) is not strictly confined to Juve (which was your suggestion, and I think you are in a better position than me to judge this) then I am alarmed by the prospect that Juve have not only been treated unfairly in the provision of actual sentences, but also in the whole process of deciding whether Juve cheated or not. The former is bad enough, but the latter is completely unforgivable. If the court is going to use circumstantial evidence to convict Juve then they must apply the same rule to all team (which means all teams should also get relegated).

    Now turning into your general argument, I am very impressed by your point. As you have correctly mentioned and to certain extent I have on other posts (but for different purposes), one cannot see the "match-fixing" in isolation because it is just part of whole scheme of one team trying to outperform the other.
    My point was that, though different in its them than yours, were that Moggi was in a position whereby he had to balance his personal interests and that of Juve, shareholder and FC. Obviously he had to creat abnormal returns by making Juve competitive with minimum cost but there is a limit to this if you keep buying likes of Biaocco above market value because he is represented by your son who could benefit from high transfer fees. This has lead IMO, Moggi and Co, towards influencing the officials because they had difficulty in assembling adequate squad depth to last the whole season.
    Similarly, as you have mentioned, Inter did not play upto the rule of game in preparing the squad, which in honesty is just as important as playing the match, by making fake passports and having holes in your bank account by buying players with the money you do not have - that also constitute as cheating IMO, and should be treated as such instead of limiting the penalties to the players invovled. What I see is clear lack of inconsistency and irrationality in people whereby they are willing to punish beyond reasonable limit on the actual sporting injustice (presumingly because people hold sport as an emblem of integrity & fairness) but complete ignorance when it comes to individual being involved and making preparation for the game.

    Turning to my original argument, whether Juve is indeed guilty or not, I still hold the belief that relegation was the worst possible setence court could have given in terms of consequences. I have mentioned previously, in any delegation of work, those who are delegating (the principals) will have to rely on the honesty of those actually running the enterprise or working (agent) because in reality one cannot for ethical, finite risk taking, and wealth constraint purposes cannot design an optimal contract which ensures the maximum level of input as in the textbook case. This means that responsibility that principals or shareholders should have for the wrong-doings of the management should be limited. Hence more efficient sentences should have looked at the fact Juve is entity which does not exist on its own and judge the level of involvement of each party in the whole scandal. I did not argue that shareholders should not be punished for their lack of "due dilligence". My point was was that the penalty which take into consideration what they could have been and what was their appropriate responsibility.
    Argument such as "Juve has done something wrong on the pitch & since they cheated more than others they should be punished more" is frankly those put forward by 10-12 year olds and does not belong in the league of educated debate.

    As it stands, those teams (presuming we did cheat) that experienced substantial sporting and financial damage from this scandal such as Bologna, with barring unlikely circumstances that they will be re-instated in Serie A, will not be compensated at all despite, what is according to the courts, clear case of injustice.
    While Italian league as whole has not changed the structure of the way it is run to insure the future simialr outbreak does not occur, which is an irony given that Rossi himself declared that he will revolutionize the system.
    So what is wrong?

    The biggest problem with Italian calcio IMO is that there is unprecedented disparity between the have nots and haves in the league. The matter of fact is, beside 7 sisters, with the exception of Palermo, Sampdoria and possibly Udinese, the all teams in Serie A has become a feeding team to one of big teams whereby there provide opportinity for young players and others to gain game experiences.
    The whole match fixing scandal could only have happened because the big teams just have too much power in comparison to the weaker teams.
    Just to explain on this point, a league with sane mind would not have a team, cough *Siena* cough, whose half of starting player is loaned from Juve. Or can one pretend the league to be competitive when about 10 teams in the league's performance depends on who they can get on loan from one of the big teams.
    In this light I felt the best verdict was the one whereby financial penalties were imposed to ensure more fair ground playing on the off-the pitch activities.
    I mean instead of trying to impose another tiresome collective TV agreement, the sporting tribunal was in an excellent position to negotiate with the consent of big teams. Moreover, one could easily have imposed heavy financial payment from Juve to Bologna, in the region of 20-30 million or so, which would have provided direct compensation for the damages we may have caused them.
    Not to mention the fact, Italia is setting a bad precedent ATM of deciding league positions via court. In last 3-4 years, it seems final league standing cannot be confirmed until final verdict is heard from the court.
    This takes a lot from the players, management, and from the fans.
    One has to get away from the mind-set that sporting fraud should only be penalized by the sporting penalities because it is really damaging the interests of fans, and it encourages teams to challenge promotion, demotion to the courts.
    Rossi, all I can, say is missed a golden opportunity for reform, and is beginning to talk about one.
    He is just plain imbecile.
     

    Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)