Calcio Debate: Is There A Conspiracy Against Juventus
Decision after decision is going against Juventus this season, including the award of two absolutely non-existent penalties for Napoli on Saturday. Carlo Garganese asks if there is a post-Calciopoli conspiracy against La Vecchia Signora…
For many years Juventus were often seen as the club who controlled the status quo in the Italian football world. Much of this perception was often clouded by the jealousy and hatred that comes with being, domestically, the most successful ever Italian team.
However it must be noted that in the past there have been quite a number of high-profile refereeing 'mistakes’ that the Bianconeri have benefited from. I will outline possibly the three most controversial of these.
The first was during the 1980/81 season when Juventus and Roma faced off in a crucial title-decider in Turin. The home side went into the game one point clear of their opponents at the top of the table.
With the scores at 0-0, Roma sweeper Maurizio Turrone thought he had scored the winner with a header, however the referee then disallowed the goal for a contentious offside decision. The match finished 0-0, Juve won their next two games and claimed the Scudetto.
The second controversy took place just a season later. Both Juventus and Fiorentina went into the final day of the campaign level on points at the top.
The Viola could only manage a goalless draw at Cagliari after having a seemingly perfectly good goal disallowed, while Juve were awarded a debatable penalty at Catanzaro, which Liam Brady converted to give them a 1-0 victory, and thus the Championship.
Finally, there was the 'Ronaldo incident’ from 1997/98. With just four games remaining of the season, just one point separated the top-two Juventus and Inter, as they met at the Stadio Delle Alpi.
The Bianconeri were 1-0 up in the second-half, when Ronaldo was blatantly fouled by Mark Iuliano in the penalty area. The referee incredibly waved play-on, and indeed awarded a spot-kick down the other end just seconds later. Alessandro Del Piero missed it, but the Turin-giants held on to virtually guarantee another Scudetto success.
So for many years, accusations rang round that Juventus had the referees in their pocket and that this was the reason why the club was so successful.
Their reputation was not helped by the decision in the 1990s to hire Luciano Moggi as their general manager. Moggi was well-known for his powerful influence in the game during his time at Napoli and Torino.
In fact whilst with the Granata, 'Lucky Luciano’ had infamously spent thousands of pounds in hiring prostitutes for referees during the 1991/92 UEFA Cup campaign. Torino made it all the way to the final, where they were 'unlucky’ to lose on away goals to Ajax.
The penalties issued out in the aftermath of the Calciopoli crisis in 2006 was intended to clean up all the corruption that had supposedly permeated the Italian game for decades.
Juventus of course suffered the most and were revoked of two Scudetti and demoted to Serie B. However, on the evidence of the events that have taken place this season, the corruption in the game is still well and truly present. The only difference is that now it is being directed against the Bianconeri.
The huge number of refereeing 'mistakes’ against the Old Lady this campaign cannot be a coincidence, and the events on Saturday night at Napoli just took things to another plane.
With the scores level at 1-1, Mauro Bergonzi awarded two absolutely scandalous penalties to the home side. The first in particular cannot possibly have come about as a result of human error. Giorgio Chiellini clearly won the ball from Ezequiel Lavezzi - in fact he did not even go to ground – so how Mr Bergonzi could come to such a conclusion I do not know.
Juventus have already conceded five penalties this season and all but one of them was hugely debatable. Indeed against Cagliari, Claudio Ranieri’s men had three spot-kick’s awarded against them, one of which was only retracted after Chiellini had threatened to have a human fit on the field if the ref did not change his mind.
Then of course there is the Udinese game in week seven when Antonio Nocerino was denied a clear penalty, and Vincenzo Iaquinta had a goal mysteriously disallowed. Seven days later against Roma, Francesco Totti was also offside when he scored the first of his two goals.
When you add up all these incidents, you can understand why many believe there is a post-Calciopoli conspiracy against Juventus.
Although it must be noted that Iaquinta’s goal against Fiorentina in week seven should not have stood, this is just a drop in the ocean compared to everything else that has taken place.
“When these things happen, it is quite simply a scandal,” blasted David Trezeguet on Saturday.
“We cannot be treated this way,” cried President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli. “I have never seen anything like it in my life.”
It is abundantly clear that Juventus are being deliberately punished upon their return to Serie A. At the very least, as Claudio Ranieri said today, “the 50/50 decisions are going against the team”.
However the less naïve among us will surely see that there is something more sinister in it than that.
Italian football has sadly failed to remove corruption from its game. Continuing to punish the Bianconeri when the new owners of the club have shown every sign to be clean and open is a disgrace!
What are your views on this topic? Is there a conspiracy against Juventus? We want to know what YOU think?
Carlo Garganese