2006 Serie A scandal
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The 2006 Serie A scandal (Italian: Calciopoli)(sometimes referred to as Calciocaos<ref>Simon Kuper. "Azzurri’s quest consoles nation rocked by scandals", Financial Times, 2006-07-07. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.</ref>) involved alleged match fixing in Italy's top professional football league, Serie A. The scandal was uncovered in May 2006 by Italian police, implicating league champions Juventus, and other major teams including A.C. Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina when a number of telephone interceptions showed a thick network of relations between team managers and referee organisation. Juventus were the champions of Serie A at the time. The teams have been accused of rigging games by selecting favourable referees.
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[edit] History
Teams have been found guilty of match fixing before in Italian football history. The most recent case in Serie A occurred in 1980 when A.C. Milan and Lazio were relegated (demoted) to the division below the top division, Serie B. In Serie B, Genoa C.F.C. was forcibly relegated to Serie C/1 in 2005.
[edit] Origins
The scandal first came to light as a consequence of investigations of Naples prosecutors on the Italian football agency GEA world. Transcripts of recorded telephone conversations published in Italian newspapers suggested that during the 2004-05 season, Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi had conversations with several officials of Italian football in an attempt to influence referee appointment.
Moggi's recorded conversations were with individuals including:
- Pierluigi Pairetto, vice chairman of the UEFA Referees Committee: Moggi allegedly pressured him into appointing match referees who would favour Juventus.
- Giuseppe Pisanu, Italian Minister of the Interior: Moggi allegedly wanted him not to postpone matches when Pope John Paul II was in ill health, in particular one match when Fiorentina would have had four players absent.
- Marcello Lippi, former coach of both the Italian national football team and Juventus: Moggi allegedly encouraged him to select players represented by GEA World, a large sports agency founded by Moggi's son Alessandro.
- Italian Football Federation Official Paolo Bergamo: During one conversation Moggi demanded that certain officials (including celebrity referee Pierluigi Collina) be punished for making calls against Juventus. Moggi said that if these officials were not punished then "all the rest [of the officials] will think they’ve got carte blanche to make whatever decisions they want." <ref name="Italydive">"Italy takes a dive", The Sunday Times, 14 May 2006.</ref>
- TV host Aldo Biscardi: Telephone intercepts indicated the Moggi had enormous influence on the content of the program even to the extent of manipulating fan phone-in polls in favor of Juventus.
- In one of the more comic moments of the Calciopoli, Moggi was recorded bragging to an unidentified women of locking a senior Italian referee and his assistants in their dressing room after a Juventus loss in the Fall of 2004. <ref name="Italydive" /> Ironically, the referee, Gianluca Paparesta, was given a three month ban for not reporting the incident to the Italian Football Federation.
Further interceptions showed that the involvements in the same conduct of other serie A teams.
A. C. Milan were implicated by the intercept of calls made by Leonardo Meani, Milan referee relations officer. Meani had been caught in a conversation discussing the assignment of specific linesmen for Milan's game against Chievo Verona in April 2005 with the Italian Football Federation official responsible for assigning linesmen. He had been also caught in a conversation with Milan official Roccato claiming to have personally decided the referee and the linesmen of big match Milan-Juventus crucial for 2004-05 title. <ref>"AC Milan appeal their 'exorbitant punishment'", ESPNsoccernet, 24 July 2006.</ref> AC Milan attorneys as well as the attorneys for Milan Vice-President, Adriano Galliani, argued that the club had no knowledge of Meani’s actions and that Meani was a minor club official acting on his own initiative. <ref>"AC Milan has 'respect for the rules,' its lawyer says", International Herald Tribune, 6 July 2006.</ref> <ref>"AC Milan hit out at 'exorbitant punishment'", Yahoo! Sports, 24 July 2006.</ref>. But the sports tribunal set up by the Italian Football Federation to hear the charges noted that Galliani had known of Meani’s conduct after the fact and had neither reprimanded Meani nor alerted the Italian Football Federation of the misconduct. Moreover, even if the tribunal could not specifically prove that Galliani had instructed Meani to arrange referee appointment, the intercepted phone call between Meani and the Italian Football Federation Official came at the instigation of Galliani who was upset about several decisions by linesmen made against AC Milan in their loss to Sienna a week prior to Meani's phone call. <ref>"Italians protest their innocence", CNN International, 6 July 2006.</ref>
It appears that Fiorentina and Lazio were implicated for using tactics similar to the ones used by Moggi at Juventus. <ref>"Foot - ITA : Le procès reprend sans Moggi", L'Equipe, 3 July 2006 </ref> According to prosecutors this consisted of a series of surreptitious and improper contacts, before and after certain Serie A matches with officials at the Italian Football Federation and in particular with those officials responsible for designating referees. <ref>"Juventus Faces Relegation to Serie C" Corriere Della Sera</ref> Lazio and Fiorentina were accused of doing this for four and five separate Serie A matches, respectively. <ref>"Juventus: We’ll Accept a Place in Serie B with a Penalty" Corriere Della Sera</ref>
The FIGC entered administration on 16 May 2006, with Guido Rossi installed as extraordinary commissioner. <ref>"Italienischer Fußball-Skandal : Später Sieg für Berlusconi" Der Spiegel, 26 July 2006 </ref>
At Juventus, Carlo Sant'Albano was named acting managing director on 19 May 2006 [citation needed]. Successively, Rossi appointed Francesco Saverio Borrelli, former Mani Pulite judge as head of the federation investigations office. He will be in charge of the inquiry related to the scandal.
On 7 August, charges of sporting fraud were announced against Reggina Calcio. Reportedly, six Reggina matches were under scrutiny after investigations including telephone wiretaps of Reggina's president, Lillo Foti.<ref name="reggina-charge">"Reggina charged in Italy match-fixing scandal", The Guardian, 7 August 2006.</ref>
[edit] Club punishments
On 4 July 2006, the Italian Football Federation's prosecutor called for all four clubs at the centre of the match-fixing scandal to be thrown out of Serie A. Stefano Palazzi called for Juventus to drop to at least Serie C1 (his statement read that Juventus should be sent "lower than Serie B", without a specific division stated) and for A.C. Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to at least Serie B. He also asked for points penalties to be imposed (6 for Juventus, 3 for A.C. Milan, and 15 for both Fiorentina and Lazio). The prosecutor also called for Juventus to be stripped of its 2005 and 2006 titles.<ref>"Relegation call for Italian four", BBC, 4 July 2006.</ref>
In the case against Reggina on 13 August, the prosecutor called for Reggina to be demoted to Serie B with a 15-point penalty.<ref name="reggina2">"Italy prosecutor wants Reggina relegated", The Guardian, 13 August 2006.</ref> On 17 August Reggina's punishment was handed down: a 15-point penalty, but no relegation from Serie A.<ref name="reggina3">"Reggina to stay in Serie A", The World Game, 18 August 2006.</ref> Furthermore the club was fined the equivalent of £68,000, whilst the club president Pasquale "Lillo" Foti was fined £20,000 and banned from the game for 2½ years <ref name="bbcreg">"Reggina suffer 15-point deduction", BBC News, 2006-08-17. Retrieved on 2006-08-19.</ref>.
| Team | Relegation | Points deductions (2006-07 season) | Other punishments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original punishment <ref name="c4">"Calciopoli: The sentences in full", channel4.com, 2006-07-14. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.</ref><ref name="reggina3" /> | Final punishment <ref name="Serie A appeals">"Punishments cut for Italian clubs", BBC, 2006-07-25. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.</ref> | Original punishment | Final punishment | Original punishment | Final punishment | |
| A.C. Milan | None | None | Deducted 15 points | Deducted 8 points | • Deducted 44 points 2005/06 season • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League <ref name="tablenote">As a consequence of the FIGC punishment. This does not include other possible sactions for European competition that could be handed out by UEFA.</ref> | • Deducted 30 points 2005/06 season • One home game behind closed doors |
| Fiorentina | Relegated to Serie B | None | Deducted 12 points (Serie B) | Deducted 15 points (Serie A) | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League <ref name="tablenote"/> | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League <ref name="tablenote"/> • Two home games behind closed doors |
| Juventus | Relegated to Serie C1 | Relegated to Serie B | Deducted 30 points | Deducted 9 points | • Stripped of 2005 and 2006 titles • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League <ref name="tablenote"/> | • Stripped of 2005 and 2006 titles • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League <ref name="tablenote"/> • Three home games behind closed doors |
| Lazio | Relegated to Serie B | None | Deducted 7 points (Serie B) | Deducted 3 points (Serie A) | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Cup <ref name="tablenote"/> | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Cup <ref name="tablenote"/> • Two home games behind closed doors |
| Reggina <ref name="bbcreg"/> | (No original punishment) | None | (No original punishment) | Deducted 15 points (Serie A) | (No original punishment) | • £68,000 (equivalent) fine • Club president Pasquale Foti fined £20,000 (equivalent) and banned from football for 2½ years |
The sentence was long disputed because of the largely different severity of punishment between Juventus and other involved teams. According to the court the conduct of team managers, considered in all the cases not a real match-fixing but a mere violation of sport loyalty principles, seemed to have, in case of Juventus, the effect to influence match results; whilst in the case of other teams the same effect was not considered so much evident. Juventus representatives considered this assumption totally arbitrary and never proved.
[edit] Consequences of the punishments
In Italy, like most national football leagues, clubs earn 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The club with the most points at the end of the season is the league champion, while the last few teams (the number depending on the league rules) are relegated to a lower division - in Serie A's case, the last three teams.
To join Serie A again, Juventus must play a season in Serie B and finish second or better (the teams that finish from 3rd to 6th place participate in a play-off for an additional place in Serie A), though doing this in the 2006-2007 season will be more difficult because of the additional punishment of points penalties. Furthermore, to avoid relegation to Serie C1, each club must finish 17th or better, as the bottom four teams of Serie B will be relegated. For example, Juventus have been deducted 9 points, after appeal, the equivalent of having 3 wins count for nothing. The 9-point hit will make it reasonably difficult for Juventus to return to Serie A before 2008. However, Juventus was originally docked 30 points, which would have effectively consigned it to Serie B for two years.
The three clubs who remain in Serie A also have a difficult 2006-2007 season, especially Fiorentina, who were docked 19 points. With this large deduction, it is probable that Fiorentina will fail to finish high enough in Serie A to achieve a place in European competitions for the 2007-2008 season, with a chance that relegation to Serie B will occur.
[edit] Effect on Serie A
Initially, with Juve, Fiorentina and Lazio all relegated, Messina, Lecce and Treviso would have remained in Serie A, despite occupying the bottom three places in the 2005-06 season. After the appeals, only Messina will remain in Serie A. Teams promoted from Serie B (Atalanta, Catania and Torino) are unaffected and will be promoted to Serie A as normal. Interestingly Torino and Juventus shared the same stadium, Stadio delle Alpi. This "cohabitation" will continue during next season as they both move to Stadio Grande Torino (Juventus will go back to Stadio Delle Alpi after reconstruction work, the duration of which is unknown).
Based on their final league positions, Juventus and Milan would have earned a direct entry into the UEFA Champions League, Inter and Fiorentina would have entered the third qualifying round of the Champions League, and A.S. Roma, Lazio, and Chievo would have been eligible for the UEFA Cup. The list of Italian participants in next season's competitions was due to be given to UEFA by 5 June.<ref>"Tax police search Juventus offices as probe goes on", ESPNsoccernet, 18 May 2006.</ref> On June 6 2006, the FIGC officially withdrew from the 2006 Intertoto Cup, costing Palermo a place in the third round of the competition, citing the fact that the 2005-06 Serie A standings could not be confirmed by the 5 June deadline.
UEFA gave FIGC a July 25 2006 deadline to confirm the standings or face sanctions in the two larger European competitions (then extended to July 26). After the appeals, Inter, Roma, Chievo and AC Milan will occupy Italy's four Champions League places for 2006-07. Inter and Roma will get a direct entry into the Champions League, while Chievo and Milan will start at the third qualifying round (Milan's entry was confirmed by UEFA shortly after the appeals process). Palermo, Livorno and Parma will take the UEFA Cup first round slots originally going to Roma, Lazio, and Chievo.<ref name="Serie A appeals" />
On July 26th, FIGC declared Inter Milan as the Italian Champion for the 2005-06 season. <ref name="interchampion06">"Inter assigned the 2005/2006 league season title", FIGC official site, 26 July 2006.</ref> The decision was harshly disputed, in particular because Inter team manager Giacinto Facchetti was caught as well in telephone calls with Pierluigi Pairetto. In one of these calls<ref name="facchettipairetto">"Pairetto tells Facchetti: I managed so that Meier will be appointed", Corriere della Sera (italian language)</ref> he negotiated the best referees for Champions League matches. However no charge was laid against him for these interceptions.
Juventus announced that they planned to appeal the punishment to the Italian civil courts, an action that may bring further punishment to the clubs and the FIGC by FIFA. FIFA has historically taken a dim view to government involvement in football administration. Earlier in 2006, FIFA briefly suspended the Hellenic Football Federation due to draft Greek legislation that would have allowed for government supervision of football. FIFA has announced that it has the option to suspend the FIGC -- thus barring all Italian clubs from international play -- if Juventus goes to court <ref name="FIFA Suspension">"Juventus to appeal sentence despite FIFA threats", ESPNSoccernet, 24 August 2006</ref>. The hearing was scheduled for September 1.
However, Juventus dropped its appeal before the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR in Italian) on August 31, the day before it was to be heard. Juve officials cited the "willingness shown by the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) to review its case during (CONI's) arbitration". <ref name="Juve drops appeal">"Juve formally withdraws TAR appeal" ANSA.it, 1 September 2006</ref>
On the 26 OCtober 2006, the resuls of the second appeal are in and Milan still has 8 points deducted, while Lazio's penalty was reduced to -3, Juventus' reduced to 9 points and Fiorentina's reduced to -15.
[edit] Other allegations
Massimo De Santis was to be Italy's referee representative in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but was barred by the Italian Football Federation after coming under investigation.<ref>James Eve, "Italy's elite prepare defences ahead of tribunal", Reuters, 27 June 2006.</ref> Italian referee Roberto Rosetti remained untainted by the scandal, and he was one of the 21 2006 FIFA World Cup officials.
The eruption of the scandal has also drawn attention to many potential conflicts of interest within Italian football. Adriano Galliani, the vice president and CEO of A.C. Milan, also serves as the president of Serie A.
In addition to allegations of corruption and sports fraud by owners, managers, players, referees, and league officials, "the host of Italy's most popular soccer show, Aldo Biscardi, has resigned amid allegations that he collaborated with Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi to boost the club's image on television".<ref>Jesper Kock and Kirsten Sparre, "TV host felled for his part in Juventus scandal", PlayTheGame.org, 26 May 2006.</ref>
In all, magistrates in Naples formally investigated 41 people and looked into 19 Serie A matches from the 2004-05 season and 14 Serie A matches from the 2005-06 season. Prosecutors in Turin examined Juventus chairman Antonio Giraudo over transfers, suspected falsified accounts, and tax evasion. Prosecutors in Parma still are investigating national team goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Enzo Maresca and retired players Antonio Chimenti and Mark Iuliano for suspected gambling on Serie A matches.<ref>"Serie A quartet will stand trial", BBC, 23 June 2006.</ref>
After the first penalties were handed out, more teams are being looked at for possible links to the scandal. Charges were laid against Reggina<ref name="reggina-charge"/> and a 15-point penalty handed down<ref name="reggina3" />. Messina, Lecce and Siena are also being investigated as prosecutors continue to analyse transcripts of telephone calls. <ref>"Minnows face Calciopoli probe" channel4.com, 20 July 2006.</ref>
[edit] Resignations and appointments
Franco Carraro resigned from the presidency of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the body responsible for selecting Italy's FIFA World Cup national team, on 8 May. Juventus' entire board of directors resigned on 11 May, Moggi resigned shortly after Juventus won the 2006 Serie A championship on 14 May. On the Borsa Italiana, Italy's stock market, Juventus shares had lost about half their 9 May value as of 19 May.<ref>"Lippi meets magistrates as Juve's shares tumble", ESPNsoccernet, 19 May 2006.</ref>
[edit] Sentences
The following punishments were given to individuals <ref name="c4"/>:
- Fabrizio Babini: 1 year ban from football.
- Franco Carraro: 4½ year ban from football.
- Massimo De Santis: 4½ year ban from football.
- Paolo Dondarini: 3½ year ban from football.
- Pasquale Foti: 2½ year ban from football, and £20,000 equivalent fine <ref name="bbcreg"/>.
- Adriano Galliani: 1 year ban from football.
- Antonio Giraudo: €20,000 fine and 5 year ban from football, with a further recommendation to the FIGC president that he be banned for life from membership of the FIGC at any level.
- Pietro Ingargiola: Given a warning.
- Tullio Lanese: 2½ year ban from football.
- Claudio Lotito: €10,000 fine and 3½ year ban from football.
- Gennaro Mazzei: 1 year ban from football.
- Innocenzo Mazzini: 5 year ban from football.
- Leonardo Meani: 3½ year ban from football.
- Luciano Moggi: €50,000 fine and 5 year ban from football, with a further recommendation to the FIGC president that he be banned for life from membership of the FIGC at any level.
- Pierluigi Pairetto: 2½ year ban from football.
- Gianluca Paparesta: 3 month ban from football.
- Claudio Puglisi: 1 year ban from football.
- Andrea Della Valle: €20,000 fine and 3½ year ban from football.
- Diego Della Valle: €30,000 fine and 4 year ban from football.
[edit] Player movements from the affected clubs since the ruling
Some of Italy's top players moved clubs as a result of the scandal. Of the 23 players selected for the Italy national squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 13 played for these teams at the end of the 2005-06 season.
[edit] Juventus
- Patrick Vieira to Internazionale for €9.5m <ref>"Vieira transferred", juventus.com, 2006-08-02. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. (in English)</ref>
- Gianluca Zambrotta to Barcelona for €14m <ref name="barcelona">"Thuram and Zambrotta transferred", juventus.com, 2006-07-21. Retrieved on 2006-07-27. (in English)</ref>
- Lilian Thuram to Barcelona for €5m <ref name="barcelona" />
- Fabio Cannavaro to Real Madrid for €7m<ref name="madrid">"Cannavaro and Emerson transferred", juventus.com, 2006-07-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-27. (in English)</ref>
- Emerson to Real Madrid for €16m<ref name="madrid" />
- Zlatan Ibrahimović to Internazionale for €24.8m <ref>"Ibrahimovic transferred", juventus.com, 2006-08-10. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. (in English)</ref>
- Andrea Masiello co-ownership to Siena
- Giovanni Bartolucci co-ownership to Siena
- Landry Bonnefoi to Metz on loan
- Ruben Olivera to Sampdoria on loan
- Olivier Kapo to Levante on loan
- Giuseppe Sculli to Genoa on loan
[edit] Fiorentina
- Enrico Fantini to Bologna F.C. 1909
- Vlada Avramov to Treviso F.B.C. 1993 on loan
[edit] Lazio
[edit] A.C. Milan
- Christian Abbiati to Torino on loan
[edit] Rossi Telecom Italia take over controversy
Since the trial, some further controversy has emerged especially among the Juve fanbase. This is due to perceived bias in favour of Inter Milan who were the main beneficiary from the 2006 Serie A scandal; they were awarded as champions as the outcome although they only finished 3rd and they have also brought in top players; Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimović from Juventus since the club's relegation.
The company who caught the infamous Moggi phone taps; Telecom Italia has since been taken over by Commissioner of the FIGC; Guido Rossi from Marco Tronchetti who is also the president of Inter's main sponsor Pirelli. This is coupled with the fact that Rossi is said to be a loyal Inter fan.<ref>Rossi Telecom takeover at Reuters.com</ref>
[edit] Telecom Italia interception scandal
In September 2006 italian football was shaken again by a new investigation. The head of security department of Telecom Italia (italian biggest fixed network operator company) was arrested for having organised a trade of interceptions to public personalities' private calls. Inter FC was involved in the process from the beginning when Carlo Buora, Chief Operating Officer of Telecom Italia and vice-president of Inter, being the boss of Tavaroli, was accused to be involved. During questioning, Tavaroli admitted that the president of Inter Massimo Moratti was one of the customers of this trade, having requested interceptions of many football personalities among referees, footballers and officers.
Inter was involved only slightly in Calciopoli scandal though Paolo Bergamo (referee appointing official) claimed, during questioning, that all major teams have the same level of relations with him and wondered, during a public interview, why not all the relevant calls that he received from team managers went out during the investigation.<ref name="bergamo">"Football scandal: Bergamo poisonously "All managers called, not only Moggi"", La Repubblica (italian language), 12 September 2006</ref> Therefore now Inter management is largely suspected to have influenced the whole Calciopoli scandal by means of Tavaroli help.
Italian Football Federation (now under the lead of Luca Pancalli) has started a new enquiry about this charges. Anyway, it is unlikely that Inter will be given some sanctions since the supposed illegal facts ascribed to Inter are dated 2002 and in Italy, as per the Sporting Justice Code of FIGC, illegal facts ascribed to teams are invalidated by prescription after two seasons. It is true that, if the illegal facts will be proved, the responsible persons still risk sanctions since for single persons illegal facts are invalidated by prescription after four seasons: in this case it would be at the end of the 2006/07 season.
Former refereeing designator Paolo Bergamo claimed later than many more clubs should’ve been punished in the Calciopoli scandal – including Inter. <ref> Channel 4 </ref>
[edit] See also
[edit] References
<references />
[edit] External links
- Italian Soccer and Its Nightmares: The Hyper-Scandal of 2006
- Report from the Guardian
- Former Juventus manager quizzed about involvement
- BBC Sport article
- BBC Sport article on the history of similar scandals
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