Here is a very interesting aricle:
Comment: Throwing Out Baby With The Dirty Bath-Water
Gavino Nieddu assesses the punishments handed down in the match-fixing trial and worries that the federation has cut off its nose to spite its face...
Just when I think people could not get any stupider, the “Gazzetta Delle Stupidagine” releases another eye-rolling cover story that confirms that intelligence is in a downward spiral.
Congratulations Italia, as you sit on top of the world you’ve managed to self-destruct again. I suppose it is in Italian nature. Like the mighty Ancient Romans did, the neo-Romans have a habit of reaching the heights and falling on their face by their own hands. It hurts to say it, but this time it will look good on them. They should have known better.
In 1982 Italy claimed their 3rd World Cup and sat on top of the football world. It too took place in the midst of a scandal that saw Lazio and Milan relegated to Serie B. What was accomplished? Serie A wound up with lesser quality teams replacing giants. Star players left. Other squads elsewhere in Europe benefited from an open market of players, and less competition. Even the teams that remained in Italy’s top flight suffered from lack of competition as rival squads were no longer there and in their place, mediocre lower tier teams played. The quality of the game was not elevated, ratings and attendance dropped and in consequence revenues dropped as well. Lo and behold, years later corruption cropped up again. Why?
The system was never fixed. Teams were just thrown out and the ones that remained kept up the cheating.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think they should have turned a blind eye. The guilty individuals certainly should have been punished. The system needs significant strengthening as well.
To throw out 3 massive squads however is detrimental. The way in which everything took place makes one think that it almost had more to do with overthrowing a major football powerhouse that had simply become too dominant than fixing a faulty system. The sheer imbalance of the punishments certainly points to that motive. So does the imbalance of the investigation. Why were so many teams not investigated after having their phone calls intercepted revealing their active participation in this corrupt system? Inter’s president was overheard calling the same individuals Moggi called and for the same purposes for example, yet Inter were not further investigated. Roma’s elaborate gift-giving to referees surfaced as well; still no investigation. Milan’s system (which paralleled Moggi’s) was unveiled yet they remained in Serie A. Milan’s indirect sponsorship of Collina through OPEL was also revealed, yet no action was taken. A long list of other teams ranging from Serie A to C were also named and never dealt with. Why the double standards?
Gavino Nieddu
Source: http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoId=94677
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