Updated news about the Scandal [DO NOT POST COMMENTS] (12 Viewers)

[bianconero]

Yes, lets start again.
Juventus by name, Juventus as a team.

The old guard will go and a new beginning is upon us.

That will be something to cheer about.

 

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[ReBeL]

Juventus at the heart of Italian football scandal



ROME (AFP) - Champions Juventus were the driving force behind the match-fixing and corruption scandal that has engulfed Italian football, press reports have said citing the findings of an investigation.

The 193-page report, compiled by Francesco Saverio Borelli was handed over to the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) prosecutor Stefano Palazzi on Thursday.

Borelli laid the finger of blame firmly at former Juventus director general Luciano Moggi, who quit his post last month over the affair, and the club's former administrator Antonio Giraudo.

"They put in place a system which influenced the final result of the 2004/05 championship but it dates back to many years ago," said Borelli.

"The system was conceived by Moggi and Juventus were the principal beneficiary ... but other teams were involved and it is in this context that Fiorentina and Lazio have been implicated.

"Likewise, AC Milan adopted measures to gain the favour of referees."

However, Borelli suggested that the buck may not stop at the four teams that have so far been charged.

"This is the biggest scandal in the history of the calcio (the Italian championship)," he added.

"It's sheer size, the number of teams and people involved, the numerous lines of inquiry do not allow the matter to be considered as closed."

Next week's trial in front of a sports tribunal, due to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday, is to focus on the economic factors in the Italian game, principally television rights and the player markets.

"The origin and explanation for this network is much wider (than any before) and attention must be drawn to the distribution of television rights, the inscription procedure for the championship and the player market," said Borelli.

Unlike the English Premiership, which has a collective television rights package for all its teams, Italian clubs negotiate their own individual deals with broadcasters.

Players are often also owned in part by more than one club at a time and move much more freely from one club to another than in other leagues.

Juventus and the other teams face possible relegation or a points deduction next season if found guilty of the charges.

With Sampdoria also being investigated by prosecutors in Naples, a total of five Serie A teams, 41 people and 19 matches from the 2004/05 season have come under the spotlight in the ongoing saga.

Referees, match officials and players are all under scrutiny.

The scandal has wider implications than just relegation from the Italian top flight as three of the four teams charged qualified for next season's Champions League while Lazio finished in a UEFA Cup spot.

All four clubs would be thrown out of European competition if found guilty.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Another Official Falls in Italian Scandal



ROME With the resignation of Adriano Galliani as president of the Italian soccer league, the country's soccer scandal claimed another victim, and just days before a special sports tribunal opens.

Galliani, who wore two hats as the director of AC Milan and president of the Italian league, had resisted calls for his resignation after it emerged last month that he was under investigation in a game-fixing scandal that has captivated Italy. On Thursday, when both Galliani and his team were formally charged with sporting fraud and violations of fairness, Galliani could resist no more.

It was a day when Italian soccer fans endured an emotional roller coaster. First, the Italian national team clinched a spot in the second round of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic, and hours later, the Italian soccer federation issued its list of the four teams - Juventus, AC Milan, Florence and Lazio - and that would go before a special sports tribunal in Rome next week. Twenty-six individuals, who were not named on the list, will also go before the tribunal.

The four teams risk being demoted from Serie A, the top Italian league, or point penalties. The individuals could be suspended or banished from the sport.

Although Italian law requires that the accused remain anonymous, the names were printed in newspapers Friday and included team owners, referees, linesmen and league officials. Several separate criminal investigations are under way.

On Friday, the Italian news services were reporting a procession of lawyers for the accused making their way into and out of the offices of the Italian magistrates in Rome for briefings. The teams and individuals are to be judged quickly, with the final sentence due by July 20.

The team with the most at stake is Juventus, winner of the past two Serie A championships. It was Juventus's former director, Luciano Moggi, whose intercepted phone calls were published in the Italian press last month and triggered the scandal. In those calls Moggi discussed refereeing assignments with Franco Carraro, former president of the federation, in clear violation of league rules. Juventus is facing a demotion to Serie B or even Serie C and a loss of two of the championship titles.

Already, some players are showing signs of defection. Following his team's defeat at the hands of the Italians and its elimination from the World Cup, Pavel Nedved of the Czech Republic, who has played five seasons for Juventus, had this to say about his club, "If Juve screwed up it is right that they go to Serie B or even Serie C. Those that make mistakes have to pay."

By PETER KIEFER
International Herald Tribune
Published: June 24, 2006

 

[ReBeL]

Here is the full version of Borrelli's report (190 Pages):

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_1-25.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_26-50.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_51-75.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_76-100.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_101-125.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_126-150.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_151-175.pdf

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2006/borrelli/borrelli_176-190.pdf

 

[ReBeL]

Inter stakes title claim after scandal buffets Juventus



ROME, June 25 (Reuters) - Inter Milan should be awarded last season's Serie A title if Juventus and AC Milan are found guilty of sporting fraud, according to Inter owner Massimo Moratti.

'If Juventus and Milan are hit by a punitive sentence, it seems to me normal that first place should be reassigned to Inter,' Moratti was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Sunday.

'In the past, when a club was punished for illegal behaviour, the team that finished just behind them was awarded their place in the standings.'

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Italy's spirits are lifted above the whiff of scandal



Italy's official guide to the World Cup opens with a saluto, a message, from Guido Rossi. The grey-haired bespectacled gent is no relation to Paolo but, like the former striker, suspended in the early 1980s, his name will forever be synonymous with corruption and football.

Guido is the extraordinary commissioner of the Italian Football Federation, the man charged with handling the match-fixing scandal that has enveloped Serie A. In his address he writes: "The current crisis in Italian football, which I have been called in to deal with, does not involve the Italy football team or its staff."

If that bald statement was meant as reassurance, it hasn't worked. Italy marched into this World Cup on a run of 18 unbeaten matches, including the scalps of Germany and Holland in high-profile friendlies, and with what their coach, Marcello Lippi, justifiably called "a solid, close-knit squad". And that is not always the case for a group of players whose ability is only rivalled by their egos.

But the Piedi Puliti (Clean Feet) inquiry has bit hard. Players have been scouring the pages of Gazzetta dello Sport at the team hotel as each leak has been published. The five who play for Juventus went into Thursday's final Group E game against the Czech Republic knowing that their club, the champions, face almost certain demotion, possibly by two divisions to Serie C. Another eight, who are spread across Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, knew their employers, too, were likely to be in the frame.

There was also a certain irony in the timing of Italy's first goal in Hamburg: Marco Materazzi's towering header from Francesco Totti's corner. It came at 4.26pm precisely, just four minutes before the Italian stock exchange closed and the list of who was to be charged was released. That goal was a mighty relief. And there was further good news when the announcement was eventually made. No player was among the 26 individuals facing prosecution.

"I've been asked a lot whether the team have been distracted by things happening at home in Italy at the moment, but that's not the case," Lippi maintained after the game, which set up tomorrow's last-16 tie against Australia.

"The only pressure the players feel comes from the big-match nerves. They know this is a unique oppor-tunity to achieve something, and they'll give their all to do it."

That may be so, and the fact that none of his squad has been singled out undoubtedly helps. The Italian Football Association have issued statements praising the players' professionalism. They did, after all, win a tough group.

But the tribunal into the allegations will begin its work proper on 29 June in Rome. That is the day before the quarter-finals, when Italy hope to be back in Hamburg.

On Friday, at the MSV Duisburg training centre, where the Italians are based, their goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was adamant that neither he nor his colleagues will be distracted. "We know that something is happening but of course we have to wait for the sentences. It's a waste of time talking about it now," he said.

Buffon plays for Juventus. He also performed very well against the Czechs, making eight first-class saves to deny, in particular, his club team-mate Pavel Nedved. "It [the scandal] has not left any mark on us. There is nothing official, no sentence and every one of us is thinking exclusively about the World Cup," Buffon, who stood accused of illegal betting, added. "The World Cup is the summit for any player and only comes along every four years. You don't want to let it be ruined by other things."

The inquiry could, curiously, eventually help. After all, back in 1982, when Rossi - Paolo, not Guido - returned from his ban and the stench of corruption still lingered around the Italian game, the Azzurri started more sluggishly than now. They then went on to win the World Cup. It was Rossi, who ended as top scorer, who resurrected them.

By Jason Burt in Hamburg
Published: 25 June 2006
Independent

 

[ReBeL]

Italy probes smaller teams in scandal



ROME (AP) -- The Italian soccer federation is investigating at least five more teams in the match-fixing scandal that brought charges against 26 people and Serie A clubs Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina.

Chief investigator Francesco Saverio Borrelli will question officials from unidentified teams in Italy's top three divisions and conclude his investigation within a week, the federation said Monday.

The federation declined to reveal which teams, but Italian media reported that Serie A clubs Empoli, Lecce, Messina, Reggina and Siena, and Serie B's Arezzo were involved.

Associated Press.

 

[ReBeL]

Italian investigator widens football probe



ROME, June 26 (Reuters) - The Italian magistrate whose probe into alleged match-fixing led to charges last week against top football clubs widened his investigation on Monday to include some of Italy's smaller teams, newspapers said.

The first part of Francesco Borrelli's investigation concluded last week with champions Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio - as well as 26 officials, referees and linesmen - being ordered to appear before a sports tribunal in Rome's Olympic Stadium starting on Thursday.

Now officials from three more Serie A clubs - Reggina, Siena and Empoli - have been called for questioning by magistrates examining events and intercepted telephone conversations during the 2004-05 season, newspapers said.

Serie B sides Messina, Lecce and Arezzo are also under investigation, both La Gazzetta dello Sport and La Repubblica newspapers said. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said it would not comment on Borrelli's investigation.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Italy's elite prepare defences ahead of tribunal



ROME (Reuters) - A referee charged in Italy's football scandal is preparing a film and a former Juventus executive is compiling a survey of yellow cards as they put together their defences for a match-fixing trial this week.

A special sports tribunal convenes on Thursday in Rome's Olympic Stadium to take up charges against four top clubs and 26 officials, referees and linesmen accused of wrongdoing in Italy's biggest sports scandal in a quarter of a century.

Champions Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio -- among the elite of Italian football -- as well as the individuals are expected to deny the charges which include sporting fraud and unfair conduct.

Clubs found guilty face points deductions, relegation and being stripped of their titles. Juventus are widely believed to face the greatest risk of relegation. Individuals face bans from the sport.

Referee Massimo De Santis, barred from the World Cup after he was placed under investigation for suspected fraud, said he intended to show a film of Serie A matches in which he had officiated to prove his innocence.

"I have prepared a DVD," De Santis told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview. "We'll be able to look at what happened on the pitch to see if there was fraud; match by match.

"Either what happened on the field counts for nothing, or only tapped telephone calls count?" he said, referring to the intercepted phone calls that triggered the investigation by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and four criminal probes.

YELLOW CARDS

Former Juventus chief executive Antonio Giraudo's lawyers are compiling a survey of yellow cards during the 2004-05 season with the aim of proving that Juventus did not benefit from favourable refereeing, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported.

It was unclear whether one of the key figures in the scandal -- former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi -- would appear at the tribunal after he declined to be questioned by sports magistrates earlier this month.

Moggi's lawyer, Fulvio Gianaria, has said his client is extraneous to the FIGC investigation because he quit his post after the scandal broke.

Gianaria could cite the case of former Sampdoria official Emiliano Salvarezza, whose refusal to appear in front of a sports tribunal in a case involving false passports in 2001 was upheld by a civil court.

La Gazzetta dello Sport said AC Milan were expected to distance themselves from manager Leonardo Meani, who in tapped phone calls allegedly spoke to the official assigning linesmen to complain about a linesman after Milan lost to Siena in April 2005.

Milan have argued that because Meani works as a consultant, he acted independently of the club.

Lazio were assembling a team of witnesses including players from Parma, Chievo Verona, Brescia and Bologna to counter accusations of match-fixing, Corriere dello Sport reported.

It also reported that De Santis's lawyer was preparing to attack the testimony of one of the prosecution's key witnesses.

According to Corriere dello Sport, lawyer Silvia Morescanti would urge the tribunal to reject the evidence of the former secretary of the National Referees' Committee, Manfredi Martino, who has said the draw to assign Serie A referees was rigged.

Morescanti would argue that Martino should face charges for his failure to report wrongdoing and thus should not be allowed to appear as a prosecution witness, the newspaper said.

The six-person tribunal, headed by retired judge Cesare Ruperto, is expected to deliver its verdicts between July 7 and 9, the date of the World Cup final.

If the verdicts arrive later, Italy could miss the July 27 deadline that UEFA has set the FIGC to submit the names of teams to compete in next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Juve's Moggi says "crucified" in Italy scandal



ROME, June 27 (Reuters) - The man at the centre of the Italy's worst soccer scandal in a generation said on Tuesday he had been "crucified" by the media and found guilty even before the start of a trial involving him, 25 others and four clubs.

Luciano Moggi, who resigned as general manager of champions Juventus after phone-taps showed him discussing the choice of referees with Football Federation officials, said he had become a scapegoat for a sport which was under the influence of many vested interests.

"Look, I'm not a saint but I've not been in the company of angels," Moggi said in a lengthy interview on RAI3 TV.

Moggi occasionally choked back tears in the interview in which he said he had only ever tried to ensure Juve received fair treatment from football authorities which often seemed to work against the club's interests.

He declined to specify what he meant in referring to powerful "lobbies" that influence the sport.

Portraying himself as a victim of the scandal, rather than the villain as he has been painted by many in Italy's media, Moggi said: "I am sickened by what's happening to me.

"I try to have inner peace, but now the problems of football don't interest me any more. I only watch football on TV because it's a world that has hurt me too much."

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

How does Italy's football tribunal work?


June 28 (Reuters) - A football tribunal convenes on Thursday to take up charges against four top Serie A football clubs and 26 officials, referees and linesmen accused of wrongdoing in one of Italy's biggest sports scandals.

Following are details on how the tribunal will proceed:


WHERE WILL THE TRIBUNAL MEET?

In Rome's Olympic Stadium, in the room built to host post-match press conferences at the 1990 World Cup.

The press will follow proceedings in a separate room via closed-circuit television. There will be a waiting room for the accused and their lawyers.


WHO WILL BE THERE?

The tribunal consists of five judges -- all retired magistrates -- and a member of the Italian Referees Association. A sixth judge will attend as a substitute in case one of the others falls ill or cannot attend.

The president of the tribunal is a former head of Italy's Constitutional Court, Cesare Ruperto. Ruperto was appointed earlier this month after Naples magistrates looking into suspected "sporting fraud" placed the former president, Cesare Martellino, under investigation.

Only members of the tribunal, those facing charges and their lawyers will be allowed in the room.

The football tribunal is not a criminal proceeding. Public prosecutors in four cities are investigating suspected crimes and could eventually ask for criminal trials.


WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

The tribunal will start with a roll-call of the defendants and the charges against them.

Defence lawyers will then state their cases, arguing that certain evidence is inadmissible or that their clients should not stand trial. The tribunal will retire to a separate room to consider whether to allow or reject the objections.

Once a decision on the objections has been made, the accused will be called up, one by one and accompanied by their lawyers, to respond to questions from the tribunal.

The tribunal is expected to question all of the individuals facing charges before retiring to consider its verdicts.


WHEN ARE THE VERDICTS?

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has said the tribunal will deliver its verdicts between July 7 and 9 -- the latter being the date of the World Cup final in Berlin.

Any club or individual who is convicted can appeal against the verdict. The appeals phase will end by July 20, the FIGC has said.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Italian soccer scandal deepens



An Italian parliamentary committee will investigate distribution of soccer TV rights and look at measures to tighten sporting financial controls.

Pietro Folena, the head of the parliamentary cultural commission, said the inquiry is aimed at securing the autonomy of the soccer sector.

Folena added that the inquiry - modeled on a similar EU probe issued last month - would also look at the role of soccer agents and referees, whose conduct is at the heart of Italy's match-fixing scandal.

Increasingly, TV rights make up the lion's share of soccer club revenues.

"The massive amount of money that flows through the world of soccer with the individual sale of TV rights and the diffusion of images on different platforms has resulted in a serious imbalance for the entire system," said Giovanna Melandri, Italian Sports Minister.

Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, who was indicted last week, has claimed that TV rights are at the heart of power in Italian and European soccer.

"The real power is in the hands of those who control TV," said Moggi.

One of Europe's top teams in terms of revenues, Juventus reported to analysts in March that sponsorship and TV broadcast rights deals comprised 69 per cent of its revenues in the first half of the 2005-06 season.

In its report, the European Union called for the introduction of a watchdog agency to stem corruption.

Melandri has backed the EU report and criticized calls for an amnesty if Italy wins the World Cup.

"I am exasperated when I hear talk of amnesty with so much euphoric thoughtlessness. "Italian soccer today does not need the improbable and impossible cleaning of the slate," said Melandri

She believes that beyond the criminal and sporting trials, new rules are necessary to clean up the sport.

Associated Press

 

[ReBeL]

Witness Capello in court over match-fixing affair



ROME (AFP) - Juventus coach Fabio Capello was questioned by Rome prosecutors on the match-fixing scandal engulfing Italian football, according to a judiciary source.

The former Real Madrid and AC Milan coach arrived at the Palace of Justice at around 1300GMT and was quizzed over an interview he made with the press in 2002 regarding the monopoly of Italy's biggest group of agents GEA World.

The company is headed by Alessandro Moggi, the son of former Juve general manager Luciano Moggi who was forced to resign his position in May after newspapers published transcripts of telephone conversations in which he tells Pierluigi Pairetto, head of the Italian referees' association, which match officials he wants used for certain league and European games.

Moggi senior is believed to be at the centre of the whole match-fixing scandal as well as questions over the transfer of players and the sale of television rights.

Capello is merely one of the witnesses and is not on trial over the alleged match-fixing by his club.

His declarations to the judiciary come just one day before Juve, along with AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, are among 26 individuals and clubs that will go on trial in the city at a sports tribunal for sporting fraud.

Separately, however, clubs, officials and players are also being investigated by the Rome and Naples judiciaries over the match-rigging scandal that has gripped the nation and threatens to overshadow Italy's thus far successful run to the World Cup quarter-finals in Germany.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Italy braces for start of football scandal trial



ROME (Reuters) - Hawkers sold T-shirts mocking champions Juventus outside Rome's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday as workers prepared the site of a sports tribunal that will deliver verdicts in Italy's biggest soccer scandal.

Thursday's session was expected to begin at about 8:30 a.m., FIGC officials said.

Workers were busy on Wednesday readying the room inside the stadium where the trial will be held. The room, under the stadium's west stand, hosted press conferences during the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

They were also preparing a waiting room for the accused and their lawyers, a room in which the tribunal judges will consider their verdicts, and a press room where 150 journalists will follow proceedings via closed-circuit television.

"We are not allowed to let anyone in," said a security guard at the entrance to the stadium. "The workers are still in there getting the rooms ready."

SPECIAL MEMORIES

A national landmark, the Olympic Stadium usually hosts the games of Serie A clubs Lazio and AS Roma.

For Juventus fans, it holds special memories. Ten years ago it was the venue for the most glorious chapter in the team's recent history when they beat Ajax on penalties to win the Champions League.

Today it threatens to become the backdrop to their fall. Juventus are believed to face the greatest risk of relegation.

Although Moggi is at the centre of the scandal, it was not clear whether he would show up at the trial. He refused to be questioned by the FIGC investigator, saying he had quit his Juventus post and thus was not subject to its powers.

However, Moggi has been put under investigation by prosecutors in two cities probing for possible criminal offences. A total of four separate criminal investigations have been launched and could lead to eventual charges.

The public will not be allowed into the football tribunal, but that has not stopped some people from cashing in on it.

Near the stadium a stall was hawking T-shirts poking fun at Juventus and Moggi. One showed Moggi's head superimposed on the famous cinema shot of Marlon Brando as The Godfather under the title "Lucky Luciano" -- one of Moggi's nicknames.

"Shame on Juventus" read another. A third showed a fictional "Moggi Football Club", with Moggi on the bench leading a team largely made up of the referees facing charges.

Reuters

 

[Lippi.am]

Italy soccer trial adjourns until July 3

ROME, June 29 (Reuters) - The presiding judge in a tribunal considering match-fixing charges against four top Italian soccer teams on Thursday adjourned the trial until July 3 to give five second-tier squads time to prepare their cases.

Tribunal president Cesare Ruperto told the accused, gathered in a room in Rome's Olympic Stadium, that the nation's biggest-ever sports trial would resume on Monday.

The tribunal is considering match-fixing charges against Serie A champions Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, as well as 26 senior officials, referees and linesmen. The Italian Football Federation has said the trial will end by July 9.

The tribunal agreed to allow five Serie B teams -- Bologna, Lecce, Treviso, Brescia and Messina -- to take part and adjourned to give them time to present their cases.

Reuters

 

[Seven]

Hey, they waited until I returned from Rock Werchter. Thanks guys :thumbs:

 

[Romanisto]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2249162,00.html

Match-fixing tribunal promises to rule quickly

A sports tribunal opened today to hear match-fixing charges against four top Italian football clubs, and the presiding judge promised to reach a verdict before the World Cup Final on July 9.

Judge Cesare Ruperto then adjourned the hearing until next week, saying a break would allow smaller clubs drawn into the inquiry to prepare their defence. But “time is of the essence”, he said at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. The court would meet “non stop” from Monday, with regular 90-minute breaks for “coffee and cigarettes”.

“We must go straight to our objective, which is justice,” Judge Ruperto said.

There was speculation that the adjournment was also timed to ensure the trial did not overshadow Italy’s quarter-final World Cup match against Ukraine tomorrow.

The football scandal has been given extra drama by the attempted suicide of Gianluca Pessotto, the new Juventus team manager and former Italy defender, who jumped from the top floor of the Juventus headquarters in Turin on Tuesday clutching a rosary.

Doctors said he remained in serious condition, adding: “We do not know if he will survive”.

Several of the Italy squad play for Juventus, the Serie A champions, including Fabio Cannavaro, the captain, who was visibly distressed when news of Signor Pessotto’s fall reached Germany.

Juventus is at the heart of the scandal. It faces charges of “sporting fraud” together with AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, as well as 26 senior officials, referees and linesmen. The four clubs, which between them have provided 13 members of the Italy World Cup squad, face relegation in the Italian league and exclusion from European championships.

The tribunal has since been broadened to include allegations against five Serie B teams: Bologna, Lecce, Treviso, Brescia and Messina.

Signor Pessotto, who retired last season after ten years with Juventus, was appointed team manager last month after the club’s entire board resigned, including Luciano Moggi, the former general manager. According to prosecutors Signor Moggi was the “linchpin” of a “corrupt match-fixing network” which bribed officials and referees.

Signor Moggi did not attend the two-and-a-half hour hearing. Like most others charged, he was represented by his lawyer.

Those accused who did attend included Franco Carraro, the former head of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), Adriano Galliani, the AC Milan vice-president, and Massimo de Santis, the referee, who was booed and jeered by football fans as he arrived.

He had been due to referee matches in the World Cup but was forced to withdraw when the scandal broke.

The hearing was held behind closed doors but proceedings were conveyed to journalists in an adjoining press room by closed circuit cameras. The panel consists of five retired judges and a representative from Italy’s referees association.

The scandal erupted last month with the publication of intercepted telephone conversations allegedly showing that Signor Moggi had influenced referee appointments in calls to senior FIGC officials during the 2004-05 season.

Prosecutors in four Italian cities are also considering criminal charges. Signor Moggi this week broke down in tears on Italian television, claiming he had been made the scapegoat for the general malaise in Italian football.

 

[ReBeL]

Italy's Soccer Trial Starts; Juventus Risks Demotion


June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Italy's trial of former executives of Juventus Football Club SpA, one of four soccer teams accused of fixing matches in the country's biggest sports scandal in 25 years, started today at Rome's Olympic Stadium. Proceedings were adjourned until July 3.

"We are aiming to reduce everything'' to a lesser charge covering "unethical behavior,'' Cesare Zaccone, a lawyer for Juventus, said outside the court today.

Proceedings were adjourned after about two-and-a-half hours today as judges accepted a request from five other clubs -- Bologna, Messina, Lecce, Treviso and Brescia -- to make submissions to the court.

Gaetano Scalise, lawyer for defendant Paolo Bergamo, who assigned referees to matches, said he was "relatively satisfied'' with the delay in the hearing. "This way we (the defense team) have time to study the defense positions of the others,'' he said.

The presence of over 100 lawyers, accused parties, witnesses, and press forced city officials to set up a court room in offices beneath the Olympic Stadium, where Serie A clubs A.S. Roma and Lazio play, said Alessandro Salerno, a spokesman for Italy's soccer federation.

Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina all qualified for Europe's elite Champions League and risk exclusion from the tournament if they are dropped to a lower division, a spokesman for the Union of European Football Associations said. Italy's soccer federation has until July 27 to declare who will represent the country in the tournament, the official said.

Fiorentina lawyer Alberto Bruni said he was happy that the case was being adjourned till Monday. "The judges have justly accepted what are unavoidable legal procedures, considering the number of interested parties,'' he told reporters.

As to a possible delay of the verdict that could put at risk teams' participation in European competition, he said, "Champions League and UEFA Cup must wait.''

Shares of Juventus declined 0.8 percent to 1.33 euros at 1:34 p.m. in Milan, giving the company a market value of 160 million euros. The shares have lost 46 percent from a three-year high on May 9 on concern that sponsorship and television contracts may be at risk if the team is demoted.

Bloomberg

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus name French Open director as new CEO



TURIN, Italy, June 29 (Reuters) - The new Juventus board named a Frenchman as the club's CEO on Thursday as angry shareholders sought to turn the page on one of Italy's biggest soccer scandals that could force the team out of the top league.

Juventus said its new chief executive would be Jean-Claude Blanc, director of the French Open tennis championships and widely touted for the job to replace interim head Carlo Sant'Albano.

The club's new chairman will be Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, a former CEO of retailer Rinascente.

The new directors reflect a push to bring in sports specialists and add an international flavour to the club, which could be relegated to Serie B in the scandal.

One small shareholder after another stood up at a shareholders' meeting in Turin to criticise the old Juventus board for not paying attention to what was going on at the club under Luciano Moggi, the former general manager at the centre of a scandal.

"If I think of the shares I bought and the season ticket that I had, I involuntarily participated in and financed 'Moggiopoli,'" one shareholder said, referring to the widely used nickname for the scandal.

The new board members had been proposed by Ifil, the holding company of the Agnelli family, which controls Juventus.

A crowd of hardcore Juventus fans, some with shaven heads, gathered outside the building where the shareholders met, waving flags and banners and breaking out in chants.

"We hope the new board will be close to the fans, who've been treated like the last wheel on the cart in recent years," said 24-year-old student Federico Romoli, who like his friends wore a tight black T-shirt and big sunglasses.

"We have quite lot of confidence in the new board. I hope they'll put their hearts into it, rather than just chasing the money," he added.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus will be winner again in two years - CEO


MILAN, June 29 (Reuters) - Juventus aim to get back on track as quickly as possible should they be relegated from Italy's Serie A as a result of a match-fixing trial starting this week, the club's CEO Carlo Sant'Albano told La Repubblica newspaper.

"We have worked to get things back to normal and prepare a team that in two years will return to being a winning squad," Sant'Albano said in an interview published in the newspaper's Thursday edition.

Sant'Albano's comments appeared to indicate that Juventus, who have neither denied nor admitted wrongdoing in the scandal, were bracing for the possibility of having to play a season outside of Serie A before returning to the top flight.

Sant'Albano said the club had until mid-July to sort out which players would stay and whether any would leave if it were relegated.

"There are no automatic release clauses and this means that if we were to drop down to B, anyone who wants to make a different choice must explain it to us and we will evaluate it," he said.

Reuters