Is Calciopoli really over? Many argued that the sentence handed down to Juventus was too harsh considering the recent revelations regarding the trial. Regardless, at least the worst was over…or was it?
The opening nine games of the Serie A season have given fans an uneasy feeling. Juventus have been forced to leave points on the field on many occasions due to errors committed by the newly “cleaned up” Italian Soccer system.
We have watched in shock as 5 questionable penalties (6 including the Coppa Italia) have been called against Juventus. We saw two obvious penalties waved away against Udinese which could have overturned the result. In the same game a Iaquinta equalizer was called back for a foul committed meters away. Juventus were deemed “lucky” to have tied Roma only to have replays reveal that a Totti goal was scored from an offside position.
So far Juventus have received 24 yellow cards and 2 red cards (3rd worst in Serie A). Two Juventus players (Zanetti and Nedved) currently sit as the second most booked players in Italy. In addition coach Claudio Ranieri has already been ejected once and 6 days worth of player suspensions have been handed down to the team on top of a supporter ban in Florence. Enough beating around the bush…something is up.
Last year saw shady referees break the 2003-2004 record for most altered games due to referee errors (41 % of games) according to statistical research company Adiconsum. This year has already set the pace to beat that record. The research analysts stated on October 16th in La Repubblica that so far 43% of games have been altered by referee errors and yesterday’s catastrophe at the San Paolo had not yet occurred.
So obvious were the errors that led to two Napoli penalties that Napoli President De Laurentiis issued an apology to Juventus President Cobolli Gigli. This will do little to appease Juventus fans. The buzz around Juventus fan forums in Italy is that enough is enough. According to the major fan groups, if Juventus management fails to take immediate action (again) that the Ultra groups (backed by individual shareholders) will demand the formal resignations of the team’s leadership in the hopes that the team will be taken over by those who mean to defend it.
References regarding Adiconsum:
http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=7&a=57489
http://www.sportnews.it/articoli/20...mpionato_uno_studio_le_ha_contate_1398365.php
The opening nine games of the Serie A season have given fans an uneasy feeling. Juventus have been forced to leave points on the field on many occasions due to errors committed by the newly “cleaned up” Italian Soccer system.
We have watched in shock as 5 questionable penalties (6 including the Coppa Italia) have been called against Juventus. We saw two obvious penalties waved away against Udinese which could have overturned the result. In the same game a Iaquinta equalizer was called back for a foul committed meters away. Juventus were deemed “lucky” to have tied Roma only to have replays reveal that a Totti goal was scored from an offside position.
So far Juventus have received 24 yellow cards and 2 red cards (3rd worst in Serie A). Two Juventus players (Zanetti and Nedved) currently sit as the second most booked players in Italy. In addition coach Claudio Ranieri has already been ejected once and 6 days worth of player suspensions have been handed down to the team on top of a supporter ban in Florence. Enough beating around the bush…something is up.
Last year saw shady referees break the 2003-2004 record for most altered games due to referee errors (41 % of games) according to statistical research company Adiconsum. This year has already set the pace to beat that record. The research analysts stated on October 16th in La Repubblica that so far 43% of games have been altered by referee errors and yesterday’s catastrophe at the San Paolo had not yet occurred.
So obvious were the errors that led to two Napoli penalties that Napoli President De Laurentiis issued an apology to Juventus President Cobolli Gigli. This will do little to appease Juventus fans. The buzz around Juventus fan forums in Italy is that enough is enough. According to the major fan groups, if Juventus management fails to take immediate action (again) that the Ultra groups (backed by individual shareholders) will demand the formal resignations of the team’s leadership in the hopes that the team will be taken over by those who mean to defend it.
References regarding Adiconsum:
http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=7&a=57489
http://www.sportnews.it/articoli/20...mpionato_uno_studio_le_ha_contate_1398365.php
