This is what you guys are facing. Over 11,000 pages of transcripts. Serie B would be the best you could do.
http://www.sundayherald.com/55742
MOGGI’S OCTOPUS:
Gabriele Marcotti reports as the discovery of ‘Lucky Luciano’s’ underground empire threatens to consume the Italian game
Giulio Andreotti, who was prime minister of Italy on seven different occasions, summed it up best when he said: “Thinking the worst of others is a sin ... but often it’s also the right thing to do.”
Many Italians had always thought ill of the “bianconeri”, particularly since the arrival – 10 years ago – of general manager “Lucky” Luciano Moggi and chief executive Antonio Giraudo. They believed Juve were favoured by referees, that they used their size to influence smaller clubs and got an unreasonably large slice of the television pie. Yet, most saw it as not much different to the kind of treatment big clubs everywhere enjoy . And using one’s clout to consolidate power within a league was, again, simply skillful diplomacy.
Over the last few weeks, however, it has been claimed that Juve’s dominance was far more sinister. Indeed, it has been alleged that Moggi and Giraudo set up a system of influence and corruption whose tentacles reached everywhere, a structure based on threats, intimidation and patronage whose main purpose was to favour Juventus and their allies.
And now that Moggi’s “octopus” (as it has come to be known) has been exposed, the consequences have rocked the Italian game to its foundation. The top two officials in the Football Association have been forced to resign, as has the Italian FA’s chief investigator. Six referees have been suspended, including Massimo De Santis, who was set to represent Italy at the World Cup. A total of 58 people – club officials, referees, FA officials, policemen and journalists – are being formally investigated. The two titles Juventus won in 2004-05 and 2005-06 could be stripped and they could find themselves relegated to Serie C1, the third division, while other unnamed clubs under investigation could all end up in Serie B. And, if reports in the Italian press are to be believed, it was orchestrated by Moggi, a former railway employee who became the most powerful man in Serie A.
The whole affair came to light almost accidentally, when magistrates in Rome began wire-tapping members of an illegal gambling ring in the summer of 2004. While the inquiry revealed these unlicensed bookmakers were congenital fantasists who claimed to have contacts and inside information they in fact did not possess, it also led them to bug Moggi’s phone for eight months, during which time he made or received around 100,000 calls (an average of 416 per day).
The transcripts of these conversations unveiled the sheer size of Moggi’s operation. There were no bribes or brown envelopes, the evil genius of the system lay in the fact that it was all about influence-peddling. Moggi is alleged to have essentially controlled Franco Carraro, the head of the Italian FA, and the two men charged with assigning referees, Pierluigi Pairetto and Paolo Bergamo. The phone taps show Moggi would freely discuss the referee assignments with them, effectively deciding which referee would get which game.
At the same time, it was made clear that a referee’s career would suffer if they made mistakes which damaged Juventus. They would be suspended or sent to officiate in Serie B. In one case, Moggi went even further, underscoring the degree of impunity he had acquired. Following a controversial 2-1 loss to Reggina, he burst into referee Gianluca Paparesta’s dressing room, berated him, then locked him inside before disappearing with the key. On the other hand, those that did Moggi’s bidding would be rewarded with prestigious matches and even spots in Uefa’s list of officials. And those officials who were deemed “untouchable” – like Pierluigi Collina and Roberto Rosetti – were generally kept away from Juve.
As a result, they generally received a helping hand from officials, both directly and indirectly. Teams who were due to face Juventus the following week were regularly hit with a hail of red and yellow cards, ensuring players who were one booking away from a suspension would miss out against the bianconeri. Indeed, during 2004-05, 25 players were suspended the week they faced Juve.
Moggi’s system was so refined that it was used to damage his enemies too. When Fiorentina returned to Serie A in the 2004-05 season, the Florence club had big plans for change. However, allegations claim Moggi saw the club as a threat and Fiorentina were systematically victimised by referees to the point that, as late as April 2005, they faced the threat of relegation.
The allegations also claim that wire-taps suggest there was a deal with Fiorentina officials, whereby the club would drop its campaign for reform in exchange for “better treatment” from referees. It’s unclear whether Fiorentina accepted, though the record books show that they won eight of a possible 12 points in their last four matches to avoid the drop, at a time when the Viola stopped talking about reform.
But that was just half of Moggi’s empire. He also controlled a huge chunk of the transfer market. In 2001, his son, Alessandro created a football agency called GEA World. Cleverly, his partners were the scions of some of the most powerful men in the Italian game: Chiara Geronzi (daughter of Cesare, the head of Capitalia, a bank which provides credit to a number of clubs), Francesca Tanzi (daughter of Calisto, the Parmalat supremo and former Parma owner), Davide Lippi (son of Marcello, current Italy coach), Gianmarco Calleri (son of Riccardo, former Torino owner), Andrea Cragnotti (son of Sergio, former Lazio owner) and Giuseppe De Mita (a former Lazio executive and son of Ciriaco, a former Italian prime minster).
GEA grew quickly to the point that it controlled some 200 players and 29 managers, soon becoming the transfer market’s true powerbroker. Clubs loyal to Moggi (including Siena, Reggina and Messina) enjoyed preferential treatment. Players were steered towards them and persuaded to sign on favourable terms, they took Juve players on loan whenever they liked and, when necessary, Moggi had a quiet word with the referees’ selectors. In exchange, they threw their support behind him at every opportunity.
Thus, when Juve – who had not won for eight games – faced Siena on the penultimate day of the 2005-06 season, they took on a side where seven of the 14 men who took the pitch were GEA clients, as were the manager and general manager. Unsurprisingly, the bianconeri were 3-0 up inside seven minutes.
The involvement of other Serie A clubs remains to be confirmed but if more clubs from the top tier are found to be involved they, like Juventus and other clubs in Moggi’s orbit, could find themselves relegated.
It is very much Year Zero in Italy, as they try to recover from the scandal, and come to realise that Andreotti was right: until they give you reason to believe otherwise, assume everyone is cheating.
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