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[ReBeL]

Italy's "Clean Feet" tribunal has classroom setting


ROME, June 29 (Reuters) - It looked more like a school classroom than a sports tribunal which could shake Italian soccer to its foundations.

The accused and their lawyers sat behind rows of long tables under florescent lights. The windows of the white, low-ceilinged room had been blanked out with blinds.

No symbols of Italy's national pastime could be seen when a special football tribunal convened the country's biggest sports trial on Thursday inside Rome's concrete and steel Olympic Stadium.

The six members of the tribunal -- five retired judges and a member of Italy's referees' association -- wore suits instead of the robes that are customary in criminal trials.

They sat facing the accused from behind an elevated table. Some of Italy's leading football officials sat below, flanked by lawyers.

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani remained impassive in the front row with former Italian Football Federation president Franco Carraro just behind him.

Missing was former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi. Although at the heart of the scandal, Moggi says he does not have to answer to the tribunal because he has quit his post.

Only the judges, the accused and their lawyers were allowed into the tribunal room, originally built to host press conferences during the 1990 World Cup.

"The Olympic stadium is a symbol of Italian football," said Quintiliano Giampietro, 40, a reporter for Agenzia Radiofonica Area.

"To see this room turned into a kind of bunker against the Italian football of the last few years makes quite an impression."

After a string of procedural motions, presiding judge Cesare Ruperto halted the proceedings less than three hours after they had begun.

News of the adjournment prompted a low murmur of surprise from journalists watching closed-circuit television in a separate press room in the stadium.

Outside a small group of Lazio fans wanted to know why their team had been singled out by investigators.

Rome-based Lazio -- as well as champions Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina -- have been charged with sporting fraud and face penalties ranging from deducted points, to relegation to a lower division and being stripped of titles.

"Why don't they talk about what's happening in Serie B, or C, or D?" asked 52-year-old soldier Leonardo Pacifici.

"There is corruption at every level of Italian football, but they don't have the courage to stop the championships for a year and take on enough magistrates to clean this situation up properly."

Reuters

 

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[ReBeL]

Italy scandal verdicts to be after World Cup



ROME, June 30 (Reuters) - A tribunal trying four leading soccer clubs and 26 officials on match-fixing charges expects to deliver its verdicts on July 10, after the World Cup ends, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Friday.

The FIGC had previously said it expected the tribunal to finish its work between July 7 and 9 -- the latter being the date of the World Cup final in Berlin.

The football tribunal abruptly adjourned on its first day of hearings on Thursday, raising questions about whether the verdicts would be delivered by July 9.

"We are expecting the audiences to finish on July 7 or 8, with the tribunal retiring to consider its verdicts on July 9, and verdicts on the July 10," a FIGC spokesman said on Friday.

Delays in the tribunal proceedings could leave the FIGC struggling to meet UEFA's deadline of July 27 to submit the list of teams for next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions, newspapers said.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

ITALIAN GAME IS SINKING IN SEA OF SLEAZE



THE scandal FIFA president Sepp Blatter has described as a football tsunami is on the verge of leaving Juventus drowned in a sea of sleaze.

The Italian game is being rocked to its foundations after a series of match-fixing allegations. Big guns Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina face being banned from Europe next season.

But it's Juventus who are staring at the most stringent punishment of all. The Turin giants are set to be stripped of two Serie A championships and relegated in disgrace to the second division for the first time in their history.

In the next two weeks some of the biggest names in Italian football will continue be hauled up before the courts as the probe which has become known as the Clean Feet Inquiry prepares to kick the accused where it hurts.

But what are the details behind the one of the most stormiest sagas ever to hit the world of sport?

How come it's only now Serie A, a league whose end-of-season results have long been regarded as a joke at home and abroad, is set to be torn apart?

The answer lies with the determination of Zdenek Zeman - a Czech-born coach who has lived in Italy for the past 20 years - and the folly of a one-time station master, Luciano Moggi.

In 1998 Zeman went public over his Serie A doping suspicions and pointed the finger at Juventus and the fitness of some of their star players, including Italy striker Alessandro del Piero. Zeman's comments were picked up by Turin public prosecutor Raffaelle Guariniello.

Although Guariniello is a Juventus fan, he had long been concerned about doping in Italian sport.

Guariniello raided Juve's offices and confiscated around 200 substances for testing and analysis.

Ultimately, in 2004, Juve's club doctor Riccardo Agricola and chief executive, Antonio Giraudo, stood trial for sporting fraud.

Eventually Giraudo was acquitted while Agricola was found guilty and handed a suspended jail sentence -which was overturned on appeal. A prosecution appeal against both acquittals is now pending.

But the plot thickens. During the doping investigation, Guariniello enlisted the help of other prosecutors.

One, in Naples, decided to tap Moggi's mobile phone - and this is where the story grows into a monstrous tale.

Moggi is the former general manager of Napoli, Inter Milan and, most recently, Juventus. If the length of his old clubs is long, his list of charges is almost infinite.

He is accused of manipulating refereeing appointments, player suspensions, TV football programmes and national team selection.

But while denials have been flying in all directions, intriguingly Moggi has been more forthcoming.

In a series of interviews he has tried to portray himself as the scapegoat, the victim of a sport saturated by manipulation from the highest level.

The so-called Transfer King has quit his post with Juve and whether he even answers the charges of the football court is in doubt.

But back to the mobile phone taps laid by the Neapolitan lawyer.

They offered nothing on the doping front but they did reveal some-thing utterly new - how Moggi used his contacts, friendship and bargaining power to have "friendly" referees appointed to Juve matches not only in Serie A but also in the Champions League.

That was not all. The sophistication of Moggi's methods went even further.

The transcripts showed that he looked at Juve's future opponents, assessed dangerous rival players, and arranged for them to pick up red and yellow cards in earlier games so they could be miss the Juve game through suspension.

Moggi told one transfer target: "Remember, I can get you into the Italian national team."

Juve's coach at the time was Marcello Lippi, now Italy's World Cup boss, and the man whose son worked for Italy's most powerful player agency, GEA.

Coincidentally, GEA's chief executive was Moggi's son, Alessandro.

This is why Lippi himself, even if Italy win the World Cup in Germany, may be living on borrowing time as national manager.

Early this year the transcripts were sent by the prosecutors to Carraro, in his role as president of the Italian federation. Nothing happened, however. After two months of silence which sent the prosecutors into a rage, juicy extracts from the transcripts were leaked to four of Italy's biggest-selling newspapers, including the daily sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport.

The transcripts, and associated accusations, exploded on Italian football just before Juve wrapped up their second consecutive league title. It promises to be an empty success.

All the accusations laid against Moggi concern match manipulation in the 2004-05 season when Juve finished seven points clear of Milan.

This past season Milan were again runners-up and their president and owner Silvio Berlusconi - now freed from the time-consuming tasks of a prime minister - claims Milan should be awarded the league titles for 2005 and 2006.

However, further transcripts suggest Berlusconi's side were running a manipulation system of their own to counter Moggi's scam.

The charges are senior figures of Lazio and Fiorentina also had the same idea. Only Inter have emerged unscathed.

The court is expected to deliver its verdicts and punishments before or just after the day of the World Cup Final on July 9.

Appeal hearings have already been scheduled to start on July 20 so Italy can submit their European entries.

By then, the betting suggests Juve will be left in disgrace and a range of points penalties will have been inflicted on Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio.

Of course, should Italy win the World Cup, no one is discounting the possibility of self-congratulatory pardons all round . . .

By Keir Radnedge Of World Soccer Magazine
The Daily Record

 

[ReBeL]

Lazio coach in Malta visit, Rossi's focus unaffected by Italian scandal



Delio Rossi, the coach of Serie A club Lazio, refuses to even contemplate the prospect of his team being deprived of the chance to take part in the UEFA Cup and, worse still, suffer demotion to the Serie B if they fail to prove their innocence in an on-going match-fixing trial.

Taking part in a question-and-answer session with the local media at the Westin Dragonara Resort yesterday, the refreshingly outspoken Rossi did not hold back from fielding queries about the scandal that has rocked Italian football to its foundations.

"As far as Lazio are concerned, I haven't even entertained the thought that the club might be relegated to Serie B or denied the opportunity to compete in the UEFA Cup," Rossi, currently enjoying a short stay on the islands as guest of the Lazio Supporters' Club Malta, stressed.

"I firmly believe that Lazio must play in Europe because we've earned that qualification on the field of play."

"The current situation involves clubs, delegates, federation officials and referees. As coach, I am not in a position to express a judgment on the case and it's not my responsibility to do so. I also think it's premature to make a proper evaluation of the whole issue before there is a clear verdict," Rossi added.

"Personally, I feel bad about all that has happened and I'm sorry for the fans. Unfortunately, the public tends to generalise in such cases and the prevailing perception is that the entire Italian football environment is corrupt.

"Sentences will be meted out at the end of the proceedings but if I were in the position of those embroiled in this scandal, I would be more preoccupied about the moral connotations of their actions."

"I have been coaching in Italy for the past 16 years," Rossi, 46, said.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=229215

 

[ReBeL]

Next seasons starts Monday for Juve



ROME (AFP) - Next season starts early for Italian champions Juventus and three of their biggest rivals on Monday as the four clubs go on trial for sporting fraud, with the threat of relegation looming over their heads.

Tha case was opened in Rome on Thursday but judge Ceasare Ruperto called a recess until Monday at the request of several parties to have more time to prepare their cases.

That means for those four Serie A clubs, the new season begins Monday with their title hopes affected by the outcome of these proceedings.

And Juventus's new president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, who took over recently after the entire previous Juve board resigned over the scandal, is already gearing up for life in Italy's Serie B.

"The Juventus society is not implicated," he said. "Maybe certain officials are but they have committed slight transgressions not mortal sins.

"We will accept the decision. In the eventuality of relegation to Serie B, we will tolerate one year of purgatory because you need one year to return from the B to the (Serie) A."

Juve could also be stripped of their last two Serie A titles and Gigli is determined to distance the club from the actions of former general manager Luciano Moggi who is at the centre of the scandal.

The club's lawyer, Cesare Zaccone, has sent four documents to the inquiry supposedly demonstrating that: "The Moggi system was not the Juventus system."

Moggi, however, claimed: "Juve knew about everything I was doing."

AC Milan have opted for a similar defence to Juve by trying to distance themselves and their owner Silvio Berlusconi from the actions of Leonardo Meani, who dealt with referees for the club's matches.

Lazio and Fiorentina, however, have gone for a different approach, arguing that taped phone conversations are a violation of the country's constitution.

A decision is expected within a week.

Five clubs - Bologna, Messina, Lecce, Treviso and Brescia - who potentially stand to benefit from sanctions imposed on the four clubs on trial, which could include them being thrown out of European competition as well as relegated, asked to participate in the process.

On Saturday, almost 20,000 Juve fans staged a march in Turin in support of their club.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Former Juve managers may have sinned, says club chairman



ROME, July 2 (Reuters) - Juventus chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, brought in to lead a clean up of the club after a match-fixing scandal, said on Sunday earlier management may have committed minor sins but not major ones.

Gigli, who joined Juventus in June after its board quit when the Italy's worst sporting scandal erupted, is the first senior club member to suggest there may have been wrongdoing.

"(My memory says) that the Juventus club is not involved. Perhaps there are some managers that have committed venal sins, but not mortal ones," he said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Juventus, seen most at risk of relegation to Serie B, was already focused on a return to the top flight, Gigli said.

"To return from B to A needs just a year, no?" he said.

Gigli said the scandal had overshadowed the Italian team's progress early in the competition but the strong performance of Juve players Gianluca Zambrotta and Gianluigi Buffon as the national side reached the semi-finals had helped to return the club to a better light.

Thousands of Juventus supporters marched through Turin's streets on Saturday as a sign of support for the club, many carrying banners reading "Juve is with us".

"If the Juventus fans decide to be close to the club and the club merits it, good ... but sympathy and losers do not interest me. Sympathy and winners do," Gigli said.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Italian match-fixing trial resumes



ROME (AFP) - A trial probing allegations that top Italian clubs Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina colluded to fix matches in the Serie A league has resumed.

The Federal Appeals Court hearing began at 0730 GMT after being adjourned within an hour of opening on Thursday in response to demands from lawyers they be given more time to prepare their defence.

Notably absent at the resumption of proceedings Monday at Rome's landmark Stadio Olympico was the alleged architect of the scam, Juventus's ex-general manager Luciano Moggi.

The court is expected to hand down its judgement between Friday and Sunday, the day of the World Cup final in Germany, with any appeals settled by July 20 in time for the new season.

The clubs' defence lawyers on Monday attacked the court's competence for hearing the case and challenged the admissibility of evidence from secret wire-taps.

They also complained that their clients were being denied a fair trial because they were given little time to prepare.

While Juventus's new president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has sought to distance the club from its former general manager, Moggi claims the club knew all about his activities.

Moggi's lawyer Fulvio Gianaria on Monday said that as his client had resigned he was no longer part of the club and therefore should not be charged.

A sixth second division club, Arezzo, was admitted as a third party to the trial along with Bologna, Messina, Lecce, Treviso and Brescia, who all stand to benefit if the big four are relegated or penalised.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Italy match-fix tribunal resumes



ROME, Italy (AP) -- A sports trial over Italy's soccer scandal resumed Monday, with four top Serie A teams -- Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina -- facing match-fixing charges and possible relegation.

Monday's session was scheduled to be devoted to procedural matters and then to the soccer federation's prosecutor's opening remarks.

Ex-Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and former chief executive Antonio Giraudo are accused of creating a system of corruption that ranged from influencing refereeing assignments to getting players booked. The two resigned due to the scandal in May, along with the club's entire board.

They did not attend the hearing Monday, while other key defendants showed up.

Soccer federation chief Guido Rossi said he is confident the trials will clean up Italian soccer.

"We'll carry on to the end, without hesitation," Corriere dello Sport quoted him as saying on Monday.

Rossi, the former senator chosen to lead the federation through the scandal, also said he is sure the proceedings would be concluded in time for European competitions in the new season.

Associated Press

 

[ReBeL]

Defence lawyers fail to scupper Italy's match-fixing trial



ROME (AFP) - Lawyers defending officials and referees snared in Italy's football match-fixing scandal failed to scupper their trial on sporting fraud charges.

Magistrates dismissed almost all the defence's arguments for halting the trial which will decide if four Serie A clubs -- Juventus, Lazio, AC Milan and Fiorentina -- colluded to rig games, mostly in favour of 2004-2005 league champions Juve.

Lawyers for the various parties, including 26 officials, referees and linesmen, argued their clients were being denied a fair trial and claimed the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) sporting tribunal had no power to hear the case.

They also argued that leaked wire-taps forming the crux of the prosecution's case against Juventus's former general manager Luciano Moggi could not be admitted as evidence.

However, the magistrates rejected those argument although they cleared one lower-level FIGC official of the charges.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Soccer scandal trial resumes in Italy



ROME - An Italian soccer federation official was banned for life Monday as a sports trial over Italy's soccer scandal resumed.

Lead judge Cesare Ruperto said Cosimo Maria Ferri, who is charged with match-fixing, automatically incurred the ban without need for trial because he resigned after proceedings against him had begun.

Monday's session was taken up by defense lawyers' objections. The sports judges rejected most requests to delay the trial or clear suspects on technicalities.

The decision to exclude Ferri left 25 soccer officials — including referees — to face charges of match-fixing and disloyalty at the tribunal set up by the Italian soccer federation in a press room in Rome's Olympic stadium.

Associated Press

 

[ReBeL]

Second false start in Italy's match-fixing trial



ROME (Reuters) - Italy's biggest football trial made a second false start on Monday when a series of legal objections raised by defence lawyers prevented questioning of the four top clubs and 26 officials facing match-fixing charges.

Tribunal president Cesare Ruperto adjourned the trial after about three hours to consider objections raised in the morning session.

It was due to restart at 3 p.m. British time, but eventually reconvened at 6.40 p.m. -- too late to prevent another day slipping by without questioning and was due to resume on Tuesday.

"I can't see it finishing on time. With all the objections it seems impossible," said Gaetano Imparato, 46, a journalist for La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The delays have raised fears that the trial -- and the appeals process that will follow -- will overrun the deadline of July 27 set by UEFA for the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to submit the list of teams to compete in next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions.

The atmosphere at the Olympic Stadium was more low-key after the hype surrounding the trial's opening day last Thursday.

Outside there was no sign of the passion showed by thousands of Juventus supporters who marched through Turin's streets at the weekend in support of the club.

DESERTED AREA

The area around the stadium was deserted. Barriers had been erected around the gates to keep the public away.

"No let-offs. Everyone guilty" read a single banner hanging from a fence underneath the stadium's south stand and signed "the ultras".

Inside, the defendants, including top referees, Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle and AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani, sat at long tables facing the judges in a scene resembling a school classroom.

Lazio's lawyer, Ugo Longo, was among several who argued that the case must be thrown out because it was based on phone taps which the prosecution had no right to use in the trial.

Ruperto rejected all the objections, except those raised by lawyers representing Cosimo Maria Ferri - a former member of the FIGC's commission for economic disputes.

Ferri will not be tried by the sports tribunal.

In Germany, meanwhile, Italy's World Cup players said they were focussed on the tournament rather than the fate of their clubs.

AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso on Sunday rejected the suggestion that an amnesty should be passed if Italy win.

"I hope we win the World Cup but those in the wrong have to pay," he said.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Italy's Consob says football scandal raises queries on clubs listing



MILAN (AFX) - Italy's stock market regulator Consob said the latest match-rigging allegations in the country's soccer world raise the issue of whether clubs should be listed on the stock market.

IFIL SpA unit Juventus Football Club SpA is one leading club at the centre of the probe, but IFIL has repeatedly denied market speculation that Juventus would be delisted.

"The scandal that has involved the world of football highlights criticism of the bourse listing of football clubs," said Consob president Lamberto Cardia in his annual speech.

In 1996, Italian parliament approved legislation for bourse listing of football clubs despite the reluctance of Consob, which has subsequently emphasised the risks for investors.

Cardia cited specific tax benefits and exemptions from certain accounting rules as other factors against football clubs being listed.

"The planned-for development by clubs of activities tending towards a normal organisation and reduction of dependence on uncertain sporting results has not taken place," he said.

Any legislation to remove clubs from the bourse would have to meet the requirement for a public offer for all shares in order to protect the rights of minority shareholders, he said.

The other two listed football clubs are AS Roma and SS Lazio.

Special commissioner for the football federation Guido Rossi said a delisting of football clubs would be "very welcome".

Rossi was appointed to run football in Italy as a result of the scandals involving match-rigging and other allegations.

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5699028&subject=companies&action=article

 

[ReBeL]

Flak just won't stick to Italy



DORTMUND, Germany — Watching the Azzurri play soccer in their distinctively theatrical way, there always is a feeling the facial expressions and overdone emotions should be accompanied by music.

A timpani, rolling in the scene. Violins, accompanying the passionate looks on faces. A tenor in a crying voice, painting the dramatic gestures and pleas with referees.

Italy's always had an operatic soccer soul. So maybe it should be no surprise the Italians are at their best in the midst of this requiem for a national pastime.

The Italians are at their best now when things are at their worst for their sport and passion in almost every way.

No matter what happens in today's World Cup semifinal against Germany at FIFA World Cup Stadium, the Italian players and federation officials will return home as tragic heroes.

A match-fixing and fraud scandal that may be unparalleled in sports has rocked the top Italian league, Serie A. Among those whose careers could be affected and legacies tainted are 13 members of the Azzurri.

The scandal being investigated includes the storied Juventus franchise, along with Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina. All the clubs could be banned from European competition and dropped in classification, and Juventus might have to forfeit its past two Italian League championships.

The twisting story has included every conceivable drama, from wiretapping to fixing the national team selection to corrupt agents and one player — goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who is having a great Cup tournament — allegedly involved in betting on games through a Malta sports book.

The biggest and most serious accusations involve club officials and referees conspiring to fix matches.

The ultimate tragedy came last week when former national team member Gianluca Pessotto, Juventus' general manager, apparently tried to commit suicide. Pessotto is in a drug-induced coma after falling out of a window at Juventus' high-rise headquarters in Turin.

Five members of the team that will line up for today's semifinal for Italy, including Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Alessandro Del Piero, Mauro Camoranesi and Fabio Cannavaro. Seven others on the squad represent the other three franchises involved in the scandal.

Yet the Azzurri has trudged on, often defiantly. They have in fact been better than ever, allowing only one goal throughout the World Cup. And that was an own-goal in a draw against the United States.

They have been neither contrite nor humbled by the scandal. They have played with more drama, more flops and dives and an edgy style that borders on dirty play.

They grab jerseys, push opponents, yell at officials and stiffen their defense with aggressive tackles. German sports shows have pounced on the Italian style, replaying numerous rough plays, including Francesco Totti's infamous display in the 2004 European championships. He spit in an opponent's face three times, drawing a suspension.

One German magazine called the Italian team "parasites" and "slimy mama's boys" this week, though later pulled the description from its Web site and apologized.

Ironically, the team has received help from referees' calls during its Cup run, sparking a series of jokes and snide comments about — wink, wink — how the Italians could be so fortunate.

The most controversial call came in an added-time penalty drawn against Australia, with dramatic license taken by Fabio Grosso as he flailed and screamed in the box. Totti entered and kicked the winner as time expired, despite the "foul" actually being Grosso dragging his back leg to draw contact and exaggerating its impact.

Naturally, in a World Cup where flops have put referees on the spot, the Italians have been criticized. They have taken the tactic to an art form.

A video — the authenticity of which is unknown — has been circulating online. Italian coaches are seen putting players through exercises practicing dramatic dives.

This is when the Italians are at their best as the personification of the shady side of soccer.

The team has seemed to feed on it all. To a man Monday, they said they would rather face Germany in hostile territory than on home turf.

The challenge of facing Germany, with the majority of fans in the stadium and some 80 million more total, only has seemed to make Italian players more defiant.

"They were afraid of us before, and maybe after a 3-0 win over Ukraine (in the quarterfinals), they will be more afraid of us," Italy striker Luca Toni said. "They are organized and tough. But we are organized and tough, too."

Early on in this tournament, Cannavaro, Italy's captain, defined the approach this team has carried throughout.

"We have to be more Italian," he said. "We have to be the cynical Italians."

They have been. The only way they could be more Italian would be if today's semifinal were played at Teatro Massimo in Palermo or the Rome Opera House.

"If everyone is attacking us, then it means they are afraid of us," Alessandro Nesta said last week. "We are indifferent. ... The words fly away with the wind. It has become a tradition to attack Italian football. It seems to be in fashion."

If drama and scandal is unfolding, somehow you must know the Italians will be at their best.

By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Houston Chronicle

 

[JuveBoy]

Aanklager: Juve naar Serie C, Milan naar B

4/7/2006 13:22

De openbaar aanklager heeft hoge straffen geëist in het proces tegen de grote fraude die Italiaanse clubs, bestuurders en scheidsrechters zouden hebben gepleegd. Juventus moet van Stefano Palazzi het zwaarst boeten, AC Milan komt er in verhouding beter vanaf.
Als Palazzi gelijk krijgt, speelt Juve - de spin in het web vol list en bedrog - komend seizoen in de Serie C. Bovendien starten de Bianconeri dan met zes punten in mindering en raken ze de laatste twee landstitels kwijt. Lazio Roma, Fiorentina en AC Milan worden één niveau teruggezet met respectievelijk 15, 15 en drie strafpunten.

Luciano Moggi, Antonio Giraudo (beiden Juventus), Claudio Lotito (Lazio), Franco Carraro (Italiaanse voetbalbond) en Massimo de Santis (hoofd scheidsrechters-zaken) hangt een schorsing van vijf jaar boven het hoofd. Tegen Adriano Galliani (Milan) is twee jaar geëist.

Alle boosdoeners zouden een grote rol hebben gespeeld bij het beïnvloeden van de aanstelling van scheidsrechters, met als doel om hun club te bevoordelen.

----
It says that Juve have to go to serie C with 6 point reduction (in serie C), Milan, Lazio and Fio will have to go to Serie B with (-3,-15, and -15, resp.) points

source: www.vi.nl

 

[jorossian]

This is very similar to what my dad said he heard on Rai this morning. However, I believe these are only the echoed thoughts of the prosecuter. As far as I know the tribunal will not make it's decision until this weekend.

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus threatened with draconian punishment as Capello resigns



ROME (AFP) - Juventus coach Fabio Capello has resigned in the wake of the Italian match-fixing scandal as a prosecutor recommended that the Italian giants be relegated at least two divisions.

Earlier the Italian football federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi called for the relegation of AC Milan, Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina on the third day of a trial where 25 people are also accused of sporting fraud.

Palazzi requested Juventus be dropped to below the second division and that AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina are relegated to the second division.

He also proposed that the four clubs be deducted points - 15 from both Lazio and Fiorentina, six from Juventus and three from AC Milan - which will be imposed at the start of next season.

Juventus' equity on the Milan stock market immediately dropped 7.59 percent following the prosecutor's request.

Palazzi has also asked that the last two Italian leagues titles won by Juventus are stripped from the club.

On the same day that Italy face Germany in the World Cup semi-final - with 13 of the squad from the clubs involved though none of them or coach Marcello Lippi are implicated - Palazzi did not disappoint those who demanded any wrongdoing be punished severely.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the recommended punishment on his club was "absurd" and "inappropriate," adding that: "The world of sport has an absolutely unacceptable political will and agenda."

Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo, Juventus' top officials during the 2004/05 season, are threatened with being excluded from all sporting activities for five years. Fiorentina's Diego Della Valle and Claudio Lotito of Lazio were also facing five year suspensions.

AC Milan official Adriano Galliani, who recently resigned as president of Italy's professional football league, is set to receive a two-year ban and Franco Carraro, who recently resigned from the Italian football federation presidency, is facing a five-year suspension.

After two days of discussions, Palazzi dramatically changed his tone on this third day.

He described the system which helped top clubs influence which referee they had for their matches as "sophisticated" and "intelligent."

"There is irrefutable proof that there were interventions (by Moggi) on the designation of referees in the 2004/05 season, the only year which this trial is dealing with," added Palazzi.

He continued that AC Milan official Leonardo Meani also influenced linesmen, asking them to get involved in contentious offside decisions.

Referring to the four clubs, Palazzi spoke of repeated and multiple lobbying to FIGC officials "not to get higher-quality refereeing but to get the referees they wanted."

The prosecutor also highlighted a telephone conversation between the recently-resigned FIGC vice-president Innocenzo Mazzini and a Fiorentina official Sandro Mencucci, in which the former explained to the latter what the club needed to do to stay in the first division.

Fiorentina just managed to stay in the first division in the 2004/05 season with the same number of points as relegated Bologna.

The trial was to continue on Tuesday afternoon with testimony from the accused.

Earlier on Tuesday, Italian football federation official Paolo Bergamo resigned.

The lawyer of Bergamo, one of two officials involved in designating referees under suspicion in this trial, announced his client was stepping down from his role at the FIGC.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Italian Soccer Prosecutor Requests Juventus Demotion


July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Italian prosecutor Stefano Palazzi recommended that Juventus Football Club SpA, one of four soccer teams accused of fixing matches in the country's biggest sports scandal in 25 years, be demoted to the third division.

"I'm astounded and indignant about the requests,'' Berlusconi said in a statement published on AC Milan's Web site. ``Milan never had any favors from referees, it was a victim of favors done for other clubs.''

Juventus shares fell as much as 8.9 percent before being suspended for excessive declines. They were down 4 percent at 2:11 p.m. in Milan, giving the club a market value of 156 million euros ($200 million)

``The sanctions requested for the teams aren't consistent,'' said Cesare Zaccone, a lawyer for Juventus.

Palazzi told the court that Juventus and the other clubs sought favorable treatment from referees. ``In the wiretaps, no one was joking,'' he said. ``There's no possible alternative explanation for the transcripts we have.''

Palazzi asked that Massimo de Santis, one of the referees accused in the case, be banned from the sport and fined 5,000 euros.

``I'm sorry that no tapes or witnesses were admitted as evidence because we referees can only defend ourselves with the TV replay,'' De Santis said in court today.

Bloomberg

 

[ReBeL]

Former Juve chief executive Antonio Giraudo was one of the first to speak.

"All kinds of things go on in football: people give Rolexes to referees, people fix the accounts. What I'm saying is that this is an environment in which you have to protect yourself," he said.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Demotion threat hits Juve shares



Juventus shares have been temporarily suspended after it was threatened with demotion to the third tier of Italian football amid a match-fixing probe.

Michael Stirling, an analyst with sports sponsorship firm Global Sponsors, said the club's large fan base and its network of sponsors meant it was in a strong commercial position.

"I don't think it will really have an immediate impact on the brand, because the club's stars are still there and people will not shift their support so easily because the shares have been suspended."

But he said the potential commercial damage to the club from the scandal depended on the severity of the penalties it faced.

"If it was suspended from Europe, it would be out of the spotlight from a competition which has a global following and that could be damaging."

BBC

 

[jorossian]

Former Juve chief executive Antonio Giraudo was one of the first to speak.

"All kinds of things go on in football: people give Rolexes to referees, people fix the accounts. What I'm saying is that this is an environment in which you have to protect yourself," he said.

Reuters

Uh, this guy does realize he's suposed to be DEFENDING himself doesn't he?