As far is Collina is concerned, you have to be open minded and I’ll give an honest summary.
That season I was living in Italy and I’m not sure how well you know the country but I am Italian. I have lived there, I studied there, was married there and still have family there. You might not like what I have to say but you have to take it intelligently and understand that I always try to be as objective as possible. I have been the first to comment against Juventus on occasions where they benefitted from a referee error but I will warn you. For every occasion that Juventus gets away with a referee screw up I can and will bring up an occasion where Milan gets away with the same thing. How do I know these things? I’ve been following Serie A religiously for years and have been researching for a long time. I actually plan on writing a book about Calciopoli. The non Italian speaking public is really clueless about the case. It’s not your fault, but very little was ever translated regarding the case.
As far as that game (Milan-Juventus) is concerned I want you to understand that a penalty isn’t a penalty just because you think it should be. With hand balls there is always the question of intent. Was it ball to hand or hand to ball? Shirt pulling? Come one, every defender does it in every game and few penalties are ever called. The truth about that game is that it was simply too important. It was a decisive game between two title contenders towards the end of the season. I am certain that Collina was instructed to just let them play. This is why Collina called almost nothing the whole game. If you watched the game again I’m sure you saw Inzaghi take a swing at Thuram. Did Collina call the automatic red card? No, he just let them play. The truth is that no one wants such an important game being decided by a debatable penalty or card.
That season Milan were awarded the most penalties and faced the least. They were given 6 minutes of injury time against Lecce when 3 would have been more than enough (they scored in the last minute). They played Livorno to a tie thanks to an onside Livorno goal that was called back wrongfully. The problem is that when Del Piero scores an offside goal against Udinese (notice I can admit it) the papers and TV shows talk about it for weeks. When Cafu slide tackles Cufre cleats up and Cufre has to leave the field with a bloody leg no one hears or reads about it and then it’s forgotten. I’ll get to the reason later.
The previous year Milan won the Scudetto and the deciding game was against second place Roma. There was a penalty for Roma (handball) that the referee (Messina) didn’t give. No one knows, because no one spoke of it afterwards. I seriously have a million examples. I will only give you one more regarding Milan and Collina for now.
In August of 2003 Juventus and Milan were in the USA doing a tour. As a result they decided to play the Super Cup in Giants Stadium New York (actually New Jersey). I went with 7 friends from Canada. We the Juve fans sat behind the net and saw Collina award a penalty to Milan in the dying seconds of extra time. It was a Shevchenko dive that was placed on the big screen right away. It was clear that no contact was made. Milan (Pirlo) scored. Obviously after the celebration we were well into injury time but twenty seconds later Juventus (Trezeguet) tied the game at one and Juventus eventually won in a penalty shoot out. Did anyone talk about Collina’s penalty? No, actually he was accused of favoring Juventus because he allowed injury time in extra time (I’ve seen that done in every tournament since then). Apparently people didn’t know that it was mandatory since there was a penalty shot. He gave a minute of injury time and Juve scored within 20 seconds. There is a trend there that I want you to understand. He in no way favored Juventus but by accusing him of it, people seemed to forget all about that stupid penalty he gave Milan.
This is the point…Milan control almost everything. This is hard to digest for most Milan fans but the majority of soccer in Italy is in Milan’s hands. When teams like Juventus win Scudetti it’s against the odds. Milan is owned by a company called Fininvest which is owned by Silvio Berlusconi (leader of Italy’s biggest political party called Forza Italia and was Prime Minister of Italy during from Mid 90’s to 2006). Fininvest is a communications company which owns 7 of 9 or 10 Italian television stations through another company called Mediaset, it also owns all satellite television in Italy. It has the exclusive rights to televising games in Serie A and B (and UEFA games in Italy). Televised games are the single biggest means of income for any soccer team in Italy because it brings ad revenue. This is actually more lucrative than team jersey sponsorship or ticket sales and Milan decides who gets what. The President of Mediaset is Adriano Galliani (Vice President of Milan) and during Calciopoli was also the League President. This means every team in Italy has to kiss Milan’s ass or else…no ad revenue. When Calciopoli should have sent Milan to Serie B (they had the worst evidence against them and I’ve got it), Mediaset threatened to not televise Serie A and furthermore they threatened to renegotiate television terms for all soccer in Italy (UEFA included) a day prior to the sentencing. People think they stayed in the Champions League because they did the least but it was pure blackmail. Italy couldn’t survive financially for a year if no Serie A would be televised and UEFA didn’t want to lose one of its biggest markets for a whole year.
Since Milan essentially control television in Italy, nearly all soccer related programs revolve around Milan and trash their rivals. Inter responded with a station called LA7 which is owned by Tronchetti (Inter’s biggest sponsor through his ownership of Pirelli) but no station exists defending Juventus. When an episode like Del Piero’s offside goal against Udinese occurs, it would get talked about for weeks on these stations using replays, freeze frame, expert analysis, etc. creating an opinion of Juventus that they were cheating but when Inzaghi would score a goal with his arm to win the Champions League no one said a word…they just showed the celebrations over an over and over again. This is the power of suggestion that Milan has used on the public for almost 25 years. In the end, whatever country you come from will receive its soccer feed through this Milan based station and all teams have to negotiate their price with Milan in order to get their games on the air. Anywhere else this would be a conflict of interest.
Before you mentioned Collina and referred to him as Italy’s best referee. Can I ask you why he was so good? Who ranked him and based on what? Did he make no mistakes? Didn’t his errors cost teams games and points? You yourself complained about him and so did I. A big Collina blunder cost Juventus the Scudetto in 2000 on the last day of the season against Peruggia (Lazio won the league on the last day). Against Inter in the 2002-2003 season, Collina allowed Inter to tie a game against Juventus when a pile up of players covered Buffon (
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TYPkBRxnPAU). Collina’s history is sprinkled with errors and controversy but the 6 o’clock news and all of the panels of experts in Italy never discuss it. Truth is; it was the same TV stations that Milan own that tagged Collina as Italy’s best. Week in and week out they would call him the best. He was finally officially ranked #1 by AIA President (AIA is the Italian Referee Association Associazione Italiana Arbitrale) Tulio Lanese. Tulio is so close to Galliani and Berlusconi that he is referred to by them as Tulio “mi-Lanese” according to Galliani. He was accepted as Italy’s #1 referee by the FIGC thanks to President Franco Carraro (Ex-Milan President and close friend of Galliani). Why all this pro-Collina sentiment? Simple, first of all he is an Anti-Juventino. There is even a website called odiocollina.com (I hate Collina) made by Juventus fans because of how much he has cost the team, but more importantly Collina was sponsored by the same company that sponsors A.C. Milan…OPEL.
This sponsorship is actually illegal in Italy because it represents a conflict of interest. His case was under investigation but when Silvio Berlusconi became Prime Minister of Italy he changed a law that automatically closed and archived cases that were 10 years old. He modified it to 5 years and as a result the case against Milan and Collina wound up closed and never resolved. Some other Milan cases were closed too as a result of the new law like the fixing of their 1988 scudetto through the Neapolitan Mafia called the Camorra and various fraudulent accounting charges as well. He has since modified the rule down to 2 years.
I could go on for pages and pages but I want to stick to Collina-Milan. Afterwards I will list some topics we can discuss later and if you wish to proceed I’ll be happy not only to summarize these things but to send you the actual references used to find these facts (newspaper articles that can be found in online archives, legal documents, wire taps, judge declarations, studies etc.)
Before getting to the level of connection between Collina and Milan I’ll have to introduce you to a new character. His name is Leaonardo Meani and he was Galliani’s right hand man. Meani’s job while at Milan was Director of Referee Relations. Milan was the only team in Italy to employ a person to maintain good referee relations (isn’t it illegal for teams to interact with referees?). Meani was intercepted numerous times speaking with referees and linesmen and I can send you the transcripts another time (I tried downloading the actual calls but I keep getting error messages). For now I just want to introduce the person, his job, and his phone call with Collina.
The call:
It was phone call intercept #5610 of the Neapolitan prosecutors that saw Milan director Meani conversing with Italy’s #1 referee Pierluigi Collina. The two were initially badmouthing Juventus and were then heard discussing the urgency of a meeting between Collina, Meani, and Milan Vice President (and League President) Adriano Galliani. The two were overheard discussing the impossibility of meeting in Siena where Milan had just played (and Collina had just refereed) because the town is too small and their meeting could not be noticed by the public. Meani asks Collina when he will next be in Milan and Collina mentions that he will be there shortly for personal reasons. Meani suggests meeting in his restaurant on a day that the restaurant is closed and they even discuss what they will eat. Galliani’s name is mentioned and Meani informs Collina of how urgently Galliani needs to speak to him. Collina also says that he intended on speaking with him over a few things…including his future. Meani assures Collina that no one will see them in the restaurant and that they are taking no risks in meeting at the restaurant. Meani even brags about the referees he requested and obtained for an upcoming match in the phone intercept #5630 and Collina congratulates him for his influence over Mazzei (Linesmen Designer for Serie A and B).
These calls were eventually investigated throughout Calciopoli and Meani was suspended for 3 and a half years…Collina was instead made Head Referee Designer for Serie A and B. Meani also has a far more damaging conversation intercepted with Linesmen Coppelli where he actually tells him what to do during their next game and threatens him should he not comply. I’ll get into that on another occasion. Another beauty was the Meani promise of Berlusconi paying for another referee’s hair plugs in Switzerland if he helped Milan. Again we’ll get into that one on another day if you like.
This activity is in clear violation of the Article 6 rule. Let me sidetrack for a moment and explain the difference between Article 1 and Article 6. An Article 1 violation is basically unsportsmanlike activity. This could be badmouthing, obscene gestures, rumor spreading etc. The offense is punishable by point deductions. An Article 6 violation is actually interfering with the regular process of a game and therefore altering the standings. This is considered illicit or illegal sporting activity like bribing or influencing referees through threats or gifts. This is punishable by automatic relegation to a lesser league (Serie B). This is the offense Juventus was punished for despite being found not guilty. On another day I’ll translate and send you the original sentence from the Federal Court of Appeal (CAF) that finds them not guilty and then proceeds to send them to Serie B anyway.
Why was Milan not sent to B? Meani was considered an independent. He was acting on his own accord and Milan knew nothing of it…this was the excuse. Records show he was an employee and numerous wire taps show him speaking with Adriano Galliani while Meani was in a car with coach Carlo Ancellotti. Thanks to this obvious excuse the court could sentence Leonardo Meani and not sentence Milan to Serie B for Article 6 violations (even though Milan benefitted from his activities). In the end Milan was punished with a point deduction (that kept them within Champions League contention) for Article 1 violations.
This argument is ridiculous because it is obvious that Galliani knew all about Meani’s activities. On the 19 of April 2005 a phone call was recorded between Meani and Galliani that I have taken the time to translate. All I can do to reassure you is promise that I will not alter words or connotations. My Italian is as pure as my English and I swear to give the conversation as it is and not exaggerate the case at all. I’m taking you seriously and hope you do the same.
Milan had just lost a game and Galliani was upset about the officiating. They were set to play again in an upcoming match where Linesmen Claudio Puglisi was requested by Milan to be the referee assistant.
Galliani: Good day, did you speak to one of the two designers?
Meani: My God did I ever. Ancellotti was in the car too. We cursed the shit out of them.
G: to who?
M: Bergamo and Mazzei (Referee designer and Linesmen designer)
G: oh
M: Because Pairetto (other referee designer and Galliani friend) is in Germany.
G: oh…so what did they have to say?
M: They were shitting themselves. Usual responses, who would have thought he would have made such an error. That’s not even the point though, the point is if the team is Milan and there is the slightest doubt you keep your flag down and I told them that! You don’t just raise your flag! These people aren’t ready psychologically. Now look, they are sending us Puglisi for the next game.
G: oh ya?
M: He’ll be the Linesmen when we play Chievo. I told them that from now on they are not allowed to screw up with us, unless they are on the opposite side of the field…you know what I mean?
G: uh huh
M: We have to stay on them now, now is the dangerous time (he likely meant the end of the season given the date of he call).
G: Good good, I know, good.
Does it sound like Galliani knew nothing? If you change the names to Moggi and Giraudo these phone calls would be scandalous…but Milan got away with it. Maybe because they were never played on the air like other wire taps or maybe because they were never printed in newspapers. In fact, until the case was closed we knew nothing of them. Once the case was closed and all documents were made public we found these calls and others and only now people are starting to understand the extent of Milan’s activities.
End result, Galliani stepped down as League President but is still the Milan Vice President and Meani was suspended for 3.5 years (though it was somewhat reduced later). Milan stayed in Serie A and in the Champions League. Juventus on the other hand who had no wire taps requesting referees (and obtaining them), who had no conversations recorded with referees or linesmen, had no private meetings with referees or linesmen, paid for no referees hair plugs, and never instructed designers or referees on how to officiate their games, lost two titles and wound up a dismantled team in Serie B with point deductions and home stadium suspensions for 2 games. It seems needless to add that they would be out of Europe for at least 2 years.
Chief Investigator from the FIGC Francesco Saverio Borrelli met with Galliani behind closed doors during the investigation. Neither denied the meeting (probably because reporters were waiting for Galliani outside of Borrelli’s office). Since when does an investigator meet with a defendant behind closed doors? Mysteriously Milan’s charges were dropped from Article 6 violations to Article 1 violations just days later.
If it interests you I have Meani, Glliani, and Puglisi’s interrogations. It is lengthy and all in Italian though.
I have given you a basic rundown of Milan’s main characters, structure, and specifics on their relationship with Collina but I haven’t really scratched the surface yet as to Milan’s activities.
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Perhaps Capobianco's confessions would also add the necessary element of excitement to your book. Probably Nucini's too. Hell may be you should go as far as adding the glaring fact that every (ok, most.) juventino chooses to ignore: Both Moggi and Giraudo being tossed out like dogs even before the verdict was announced. Juventus didn't defend them, I wonder why...eventhough they've been at the club for ages. Note how none of the other implicated clubs made changes to their management (unlike Juventus), note how all the implicated clubs maintained innocence while Juventus seeked Serie B without penalization. Why would a totally 'clean' club accept their fate so easily? Why would Cobolli come out and say that this is a new clean and transparent Juventus?
