I have just come across this article I wrote a few years back for a friend's blog. Some stuff a bit outdated, but it pretty much summarizes my thoughts on the matter.
"Calciopoli … what has really happened in the Spring of 2006? Where did the tsunami that was going to attempt to destroy Juventus really started?
Even today, we cannot give definite answers. But since that summer, a lot of things have happened and there are several facts to look at. Ok, I am a Juve fan but as many others did at the time, on the basis of what the newspapers were telling us, I found it difficult to defend my team. But now, every day we learn something new about that trial and the whole saga that really brings new evidence to the party.
But where do we start? Not an easy task, but I’ll try my best.
I think that the very first thing to look at is definitely the sentence of the Napoli tribunal: it’s a starting point and we can reflect on a number of things.
What are the major outcomes of the trial? What are the judges conclusions? These are the 4 key points:
1) The 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 Serie A League were not altered; no matches were fixed and no referees were corrupted. The investigation wasn’t carried out in a diligent manner (some of the phone calls used in court had been manipulated by the Carabinieri)
2) The phone SIM cards bought in Switzerland by Moggi and given by him to some referees and the referees bosses are the only evidence that “there has been an attempt to alter and condition the system although there is no evidence of match fixing”.
3) Moggi’s attitude is invasive when over the phone he tries to influence FIGC and the National team with his recurring phone calls to Carraro (then FICG President) and Lippi (Italy’s Manager at the time)
4) The fact that those phone calls and that this promiscuity which tended to make the organization a Mafia type organization were common to most Serie A teams does not absolve Luciano Moggi, hence his condemnation.
If you look at the above, the so called “motivation of sentence” which are attached to the Judge’s sentence, you probably feel like you wished you never had to deal with the Italian Judiciary system.
Basically, Moggi (not Juve, that comes out clear from the Napoli trial) has been condemned because he had some swiss phone SIM’s and he rang some people on average more then what the other Team Managers did. But let’s stay cool and look at each point.
1) This is what it’s technically known as the positive part of the motivation. The Leagues under investigation were regular. So, why on earth Juve has been stripped of two Scudetti ? And why was Inter given the 2005-2006 title? The only explanation we can give today is that Guido Rossi, the man in charge at the time, is an Inter man (he has served in Inter board for over a decade). But especially, why the FIGC isn’t stripping Inter of the title in the light of what Palazzi investigation concluded last July? Palazzi stated that Inter, through its Manager Facchetti, had the same behavior of Moggi and therefore Inter was guilty of breaching articles 1 and 6 of Italian Sports Law, the same articles supposedily breached by Juve. Fortunately for Inter, more then 5 years had elapsed since the crime was committed, so the crime wasn’t persecutable anymore. Mhh. Suspicious timing by Palazzi there who awaits 5 years and few days to rule on the case.
Let’s now look at the other conclusion: the Carabinieri did not run the investigation “diligently”. There is a bit more to that actually. Auricchio, the head investigator, is a personal friend of Baldini, who was Roma manager at the time and a friend of Tavaroli (we’ll come back to him on point 2), had already sentenced in the past for manipulating phone taps to his own advantage in other trials. So we are not talking about Mr. Moral here. Also, his testimony in court was controversial to say the least; he contradicted himself continuously and emerged as totally bias against Juventus. Some presumed “evidence”,
that has been used to condemn Moggi, has now disappeared. As we know, many phone calls, especially those involving Inter and Roma, have been neglected by our Sherlock Holmes Auricchio, a guy who stated he had no idea that Berlusconi, AC Milan owner, also owned Mediaset, Italy’s largest TV network.
2) The swiss SIM: in the light off what has emerged in a different trial, it makes sense that Moggi was using them. Infact Moratti and Inter had commissioned Tavaroli of Telecom (sponsor and co-owner of Inter) to tap Moggi’s phone, together with many others ranging from referees to other managers. It’s called industrial espionage and it’s a crime. Also, it’s a crime as far as sport is concerned and Judge De Biase, an expert in Sports Law, has declared that Moratti should get a life ban from football and Inter should be penalized. Let’s see how FIGC is going to avoid doing it this time around.
3) Point 3 is farcical. Carraro, President of FIGC, was phoning the referee’s boss Bergamo begging him to help Lazio and Moggi was considered “Invasive”?!?!? This is so laughable it’s almost unbelievable it was written in a sentence. So, as the judge conclusion was that every team manager was making these kind of phone calls, did they make a ranking of how invasive they were? Are we talking about how more Mafia-like the phone calls were ? Even a 6 years old child would understand that this makes no sense whatsoever.
4) I think we would all accept that. At one condition. If all those teams that violated article 1 and 6 were treated in the same manner! Inter included! The ridiculous thing is that although Inter were as guilty as everybody else, they were gifted a Scudetto!!!!
You might just say that my conclusions are bias too. As a matter of fact, I have found huge inspiration for the above from an article written by Oliviero Beha, leading journalist, Fiorentina fan known for his position against Juve. But he comes to the same conclusions especially about the role of media in this case. The role of some newspapers in Calciopoli, mainly Gazzetta and Corriere della Sera, are absolutely suspicious. One of the main sponsors of Calciopoli was Beppe Severgnini, one of Italy’s leading journalists and one of biggest Inter fans. A couple of years, he suddenly stopped writing and talking about football. Why so?
Draw your own conclusions. I have drawn mine.