Moggi to duck and cover in referee scandal?

The whiff of scandal can be sniffed back to the 5th of last month when the Italian Football Federation received a report from the Turin attorney general’s office - also submitted to the Rome attorney general’s office and UEFA, as published in the "Gazzetta dello sport". Said report alerted to the fact that wire taps had been placed on Moggi’s lines to unearth what could be match rigging.

According to the first reports, Luciano Moggi, an Italian Federation VP (Inocenzo Mazzini) and Pierluigi Pairetto - the retired international ref turned referee selector for Serie A - have been exchanging more than recipes for Bracciola. This heady brew has been stewing for the past month and seems to have cooked up a tasty scandal after the respected ‘Corriere Della Sera’ published (alleged) transcripts of conversations held between the Juve Capo and what could be some willing allies in high places.

The full list of iffy conversations runs to a jaw-dropping 100 pages of chat that is rich with implications that the Bianconeri boss has been using foul as well as fair play to ensure that the Old Lady is helped through the Italian league and shown a sparkling Scudetto. Explosive stuff, indeed, but before rival fans and incensed fair-play-followers’ heads start exploding in crimson apoplexy, it must be noted that the bulk apparently dates back to last season. So far.

The case is being excavated by Turin deputy attorney general Raffaele Guariniello with the help of Gianfranco Colace and Sara Panelli. The conspicuous absent face from this list of potential shame is Pairetto’s colleague Paolo Bergamo, actually on the UEFA refereeing panel and - fortunately - not in any of the ‘friendly chitchats’. Keep your eyes peeled for a Goal.com full transcription of the words that may strangle, pluck, stuff, roast, slice and gobble a rich duck.

 ==========

Exclusive: The Moggi Tapes Transcribed

Goal.com reveals the first transcripts that could very well land Luciano Moggi into court. The excerpts reproduced in English here covers two potentially explosive revelations - based on interpretation.

The first appears to show that Pierluigi Pairetto arranged a friendly ref for a Champions League match in the Amsterdam Arena - Urs Maier - and was expecting to be ‘remembered,’ something that Moggi guaranteed would happen.

The second (in two parts) introduces a novel form of payment - a Maserati. It would appear that Moggi turned to Juve supremo Agnelli (of automotive fame and enormous fortune) for a sports car that would be ‘a gift’ for ‘a friend’ who turns out to be Enzo: none other than Innocenzo Mazzini - the Italian Federation VP.

Goal.com encourages readers to judge for themselves if the conversations really are proof of ill-will and wrong-doing or just a friendly conversation between old pals blown up by a wave of anti-Juve hysteria. Can this blow Serie A out of the water - or is it just a bubble of flatulence in a Jacuzzi?

I REMEMBER YOU

Moggi: Hello

Pairetto: Hey there, I know you forgot all about me, but I didn’t.

Moggi: Come on…

Pairetto: I placed a great referee for the Amsterdam match.

Moggi: Who?

Pairetto: Meier

Moggi: Great!

Pairetto: You see that I still think about you, even though you don’t anymore…

Moggi: Don’t start, now you’ll see, when I’m back, then you’ll see if I forgot you.

I NEED A CAR

Man: Agnelli’s house, good morning

Moggi: Good morning, I’m Moggi. I need Nalla

Nalla: Hello Luciano

Moggi: I need something urgently, because we need to do…

Nalla: Yes

Moggi: For an important friend, a Maserati

Nalla: Yes

Moggi: Four-door

Nalla: Four-door?

Moggi: Yes. We give you a week’s time, ten days, ok?

Nalla: Ok

THE CAR IS AVAILABLE

Enzo: Hello?

Pairetto: Enzo?

Enzo: Hello Gigi

Pairetto: Listen, I wanted to tell you that I practically have the car.

Enzo: Which?

Pairetto: So when we want to go pick it up there, the Maserati is practically available.

Enzo: Come on

Pairetti: Yes, therefore

Enzo: Madonna!

Pairetto: Now when I’m back home tomorrow I will call directly the Royal House.

==========

CONVERSATION BETWEEN MOGGI AND PAIRETTO (11th August 2004)

Moggi and Pairetto (the vice-President of the Uefa Referees Commission) speak on the phone about the Champions League first leg of the preliminary round between Juventus and Djugarden which ended 2-2.

Pairetto: Hello
Moggi: Gigi? Where are you?
Pairetti: We left
Moggi: Oh, what kind of f…. referee did you send us?
Pairetto: Oh, Fandel is one of the first…
Moggi: I know, but Miccoli’s goal is valid
Pairetto: No
Moggi: Why not? (…) But then all throughout the match he caused problems to us
Pairetto: I did not like the assistants overall, no, but I was thinking about someone else, the one that had raised was the one of Trezeguet which I remember in front.
Moggi: That is something else (…) Now be careful in Stockholm, eh?
Pairetto: This surely is a match…
Moggi: No, we’ll win, you know…
Pairetto: But they are poor
Moggi: But with someone like this it’s difficult, understood?
(…)

The conversation shifts to a discussion about some summer friendlies:

Moggi: Oh, at Messina send me Consolo and Battaglia
Pairetto: Eh, I already did it
Moggi: And who will you send us?
Pairetto: I think Consolo and Battaglia
Moggi: Eh, with Cassara, eh?
Pairetto: Yes
Moggi: And at Livorno, Rocchi?
Pairetto: At Livorno Rocchi, yes
Moggi: And for the Trofeo Berlusconi Pieri, please
Pairetto: We have not done it yet
Moggi: We shall do it later
Pairetto: Ok we’ll do it later.

==========

CONVERSATION BETWEEN MOGGI, MORENA AND PAIRETTO (24th August 2004 - on the eve of the Champions League second leg match against Djugarden)

Moggi: Hello?
Morena: Mister Moggi, hello. I wanted to announce to you the referee and assistants for tomorrow night’s Champions League match
Moggi: Who’s the referee, Cardoso?
Morena: No, I see Poll Graham’s name
Moggi: Uhm…Where is he from?
Morena: He’s English
(…)
Pairetto: Hello
Moggi: Good morning
Pairetto: Hey there, good morning!
Moggi: Oh, what about Cardoso, eh?
Pairetto: Eh
Moggi: Paul Green (Moggi actually confused Graham Poll with Paul Green)
Pairetto: What?
Moggi: Paul Green
Pairetto: Then something must have happened in the last moment, I have Cardoso, something must have happened… he must have been sick or something like that
Moggi: Inform yourself
Pairetto: Yes yes, I will

Two weeks before the first group match of the first phase of the Champions League (2004/05 season) in program on the 15th of September, Pairetto announces the referee of that match to Moggi (the game ended 1-0 for the Bianconeri)

Moggi: Hello
Pairetto: Hey there, I know you forgot all about me, but I didn’t.
Moggi: Come on…
Pairetto: I placed a great referee for the Amsterdam match.
Moggi: Who?
Pairetto: Meier
Moggi: Great!
Pairetto: You see that I still think about you, even though you don’t anymore…
Moggi: Don’t start, now you’ll see, when I’m back, that I didn't forget you.

==========

CONVERSATION BETWEEN MOGGI AND GIRAUDO (14th August 2004 - the two Bianconeri managers talk about the referee designations)

Giraudo: We see immediately what kind of air there is; you have any news of how the atmosphere is there at Sportilia?
Moggi: Good, good with Gigi (Pairetto)
Giraudo: But it’s not like last year?
Moggi: No, no, with Gigi it’s great
Giraudo: But now we tell him to work hard for this crow, because we cannot go on with this d… head

==========

CONVERSATION ABOUT A CAR FOR AN IMPORTANT FRIEND

Man: Agnelli’s house, good morning
Moggi: Good morning, I’m Moggi. I need Nalla
Nalla: Hello Luciano
Moggi: I need urgently, because we need to do…
Nalla: Yes
Moggi: For an important friend, a Maserati
Nalla: Yes
Moggi: Four-door
Nalla: Four-door?
Moggi: Yes. We give you a week’s time, ten days, ok?
Nalla: Ok

Enzo: Hello?
Pairetto: Enzo?
Enzo: Hello Gigi
Pairetto: Listen, I wanted to tell you that I practically have the car.
Enzo: Which?
Pairetto: So when we want to go pick it up there is practically available the Maserati.
Enzo: Come on
Pairetti: Yes, therefore
Enzo: Madonna!
Pairetto: Now when I’m back home tomorrow I will call directly the Royal House.


Mazzini On Carraro (The FIGC vice-President and Moggi speak to each other on the 6th of September, about the federal elections and a meeting with the referees)

Mazzini: For this ass.... (referred to Carrara), don’t forget that he thinks that, also if he passes like he normally wants, he will win. Instead you must stick it up his a… Don’t forget
Moggi: Ooh if I tell you let me talk to him, then tomorrow I have the appointment
Mazzini: Ok
(…)
Mazzine: On Friday I’ll do the referees
Moggi: On Friday I will come too
Mazzini: I told Anto’ and he told me that he won’t come
Moggi: Let it go, that’s a hybrid environment, the less that someone blends in, the better it is, and it’s not worth it to stay far away: I will make one take part or I will take part, or I will send Alessio.

==========

CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN MOGGI AND SON

(10th September 2004)

Alessandro Moggi: …the other day, take it as an information, then I don’t know, I met up with Preziosi (former President of Genoa) as always
Luciano Moggi: Uhm
A. Moggi: He started telling me how football is changing, you must be careful of this and that, Carraro, Galliani, then he tells me not to trust Montezemolo. I ask him why? Because I overheard a conversation at Juve, they want to kick everyone out except for Giraudo
L. Moggi: Yes, but this is b…..
A. Moggi: I’m telling you what I heard, since Preziosi is often in this kind of environment, he’s in it.
L. Moggi: He’s never there
A. Moggi: Well, dad, I’m telling you because...
L. Moggi: It’s exactly the other way round

(19th August 2004)

A. Moggi: Morabito (agent) called me, in particular Vigorelli (agent), to find out if you wanted to make an exchange of loans for Liverani
L. Moggi: No, no. They work for Lazio now?
A. Moggi: What do I know, that’s what he told me
L. Moggi: Damn it, since that one hooked down there, but I want to talk with him, because they gave them Lopez and they want to give them Marquez, eh?
A. Moggi: Eh, I know
L. Moggi: Therefore it’s certain that they managed to get in a little, because they cannot go in much there, unless Cinquini (former Sports Director of Lazio) does not work anymore for Lazio

(28th August 2004) Talking about Miccoli

L. Moggi: I asked Lotito for 10 million and he told me 5, no? You must tell him: look, I can convince my father to do it for 7.5 million. Tell him some stories at the beginning
A. Moggi: Ok

Luciano then calls a friend of Miccoli

L. Moggi: Tell him to be less stupid, otherwise I won’t let him be called up for the National team, so I pass a judgement on him, because I will send him to the National team.

==========

CONVERSATION WITH BISCARDI (TV PERSONALITY AND JOURNALIST)

Biscardi: Hello?
Moggi: Can I speak with Doctor Biscardi?
Biscardi: It’s me
Moggi: I’m Luciano Moggi
Biscardi: Uehh….Lucia
Moggi: So yesterday I called here our friend from Trieste…Baldas (former referee designator and commentator on the TV program “Il Processo di Biscardi”). I gave him a good talking, but there was no need. He does not have any fault
(…)
Moggi: But if he doesn’t come I won’t get anyone else, why should we kill the league off?
Biscardi: No, you won’t kill f…. anything, maybe you killed it off last season, you should give me 40 million, you bet with me and you lost
Moggi: Aldo, but I…you’re like an insured clock, what can I say?
Biscardi: And where is it?
Moggi: And you know that when I tell you…
Biscardi: And I don’t know. You never send it…
Moggi: F… off, I gave you one, it cost 40 million.

==========

Conversation between Luciano Moggi and Innocenzo Mazzini, vicepresident of the Lega Calcio:

(Talking about an article on the Gazzetta newspaper)

Moggi: "Who asked for that article? Carraro, with Calabrese's help (Calabrese=former director of Gazzetta). But I told them last night, are you idiots? Are you out of your mind, writing that stuff?

Innocenzi: "Then all other newspapers go wild."

Moggi: "No worries, I made them stop now, this articles are over as from Monday. (Note from Gazzetta: the articles will actually continue for 7 more months).

A different conversation, Moggi and Innocenzi talk about refs:

Innocenzi: "On Friday I'm going to decide the refs."

Moggi: "I'm coming too."

Converstations between Moggi and Pierluigi Pairetto, designator of refs for the Italian League and vicepresident of UEFA's refs commission.

Moggi: "Hello."

Pairetto: "Hey, I know you forgot about me but I didn't forget about you."

Moggi: "Come on..."

Pairetto: "Hey I've chosen a great ref for the Amsterdam game."

Moggi: "Who is it?"

Pairetto: "Meier."

Moggi: "Great!"

After Juve v Djugarden 2-2.

Moggi: "What phuckin ref did you send us?"

Pairetto: "Fandel is among the best..."

Moggi: "Yeah but Miccoli's goal was fine."

Pairetto: "No, he was in front of the defenders."

Moggi: "It was good, it was good."

Pairetto: "No, he was in front."

Moggi: "He wasn't, and anyway the whole game, he made a complete mess and..."

Pairetto: "You know he's one of the top..."

Moggi: "He can go phuck himself, I'm telling you Gigi, he can go take it up the ass. Trust me. Now careful with the Stockholm game, eh?"

Pairetto: "Gosh, that'll be a hard game..."

Moggi: "It's ok, we'll win... But with a ref like that... you know what I mean?"

Moggi then asks for refs in the pre-season games:

Moggi: "Send me Consolo and Battaglia for the Messina game."

Pairetto: "I've already picked the refs for that one."

Moggi: "Who are they?"

Pairetto: "Consolo and Battaglia I think."

Moggi: "And I want Pieri for the Berlusconi Cup, ok?"

Pairetto: "We didn't do that one yet."

Moggi: "Let's do it later then."

Pairetto: "Yeah ok we'll do that one later."

==========

 Moggi and Giraudo dissin Lippi:

G: "Marcello won't get anywhere, he won't even qualify for the WC."

M: "I'll tell you something, he's covering his ass like a dog."

G: "Yeah?"

M: "Jesus, he called me."

G: "It's because now he's afraid."

M: "He's scared."

G: "Luciano, I'll tell you what'll happen to him, in 10 months he'll have 10 big players against him. They don't want to play for the NT anymore. All the press against him. There's nothing he can't do, he hasn't got the temper to do that job. Everybody's against him, look!"

M: "He wants to invent new systems, there you go."

==========

Italy Federation investigating Juve phone taps

By Simon Evans

MILAN, May 5 (Reuters) - The Italian Football Federation is investigating the content of tapped telephone conversations involving Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi talking of refereeing appointments for Serie A games.

The content of Moggi's telephone conversations during the 2004-05 season, intercepted by investigators in Turin, have been published in Italian newspapers and were passed on to the Federation who said they had already opened an investigation.

The probe by Turin public prosecutors was closed without action. Juventus won the title in the season concerned.
"I feel like millions of fans -- concerned, sad and angry," Federation president Franco Carraro told a news conference.
"Errors can be made but the important thing is that they are discovered, verified and that the necessary sanctions arrive."  Carraro said the Federation had received 272 pages of documentation from Turin prosecutors in March and added that the investigation would be swift and serious.

Moggi was dismissive of the affair.

"It's all a load of rubbish. Ask yourselves above all why they have done this on the eve of a title-win that we fully deserve?" he told website TG Com.

Juventus can claim their 29th Italian league title if they win against Palermo on Sunday and rivals AC Milan fail to win at Parma.
In the interceptions, Moggi talks about the selection of referees for specific games with Pierluigi Pairetto, who at the time was in charge of appointing match officials.  "I am very sorry to read things which could appear very different from the reality," Pairetto told the Italian news agency ANSA. "Maybe there were some comments which were inopportune but my good faith is beyond question."

NOT INFORMED

Antonio Giraudo, Juve's managing director who also features in the taps, told a news conference in Turin that the club had not been informed of the investigation or of the content of the taps.
"I'd like to know why these intercepts were given first to newspapers and not to us or our lawyers. We found out about this through the newspapers and it is only today that we have received copies," he said.
"It is incredible that the fundamental rights of people can be of so little concern," he added, noting the Turin investigation had stated in September that it had found no evidence of wrongdoing and had closed the case.
"Once again Juventus and it's directors are under the spotlight of a media trial that is without precedent in the history of football," said Giraudo, who added he had no intention of resigning.
"We will come together, as we have done in previous years, and I am sure we will obtain even better results on the field," he said.
The taps, which have resulted in front page headlines in Italy's sports press, also include embarrassing references to former Juve coach Marcello Lippi, now in charge of the national team, exchanges with journalists and a number of discussions about transfer dealings.
Gianni Petrucci, president of Italy's National Olympic Committee, which oversees sport in the country, urged the Federation to make a swift investigation of the taps.
"The Federation need to accelerate their investigation in regard to the rights of everyone. Above all, who has erred needs to pay the price. It is clear that we want the image and the ethics (of the game) to be respected," he said.

==========

 Conversation between Moggi and Paco Casal, Fabian Carini's agent.

Moggi: "Branca called Cannavaro and he's told him that he'll never that he'll never give him to Juve. Cannavaro told him to f uck off and that he was going to talk to the President, not to him."

Casal: "We need to push it. If Cannavaro calls Ghelfi and tells him 'Look Dr I'm not staying here because I'm not going to play and the coach won't consider me important enough'.

Casal: "Look we should do this today."

Moggi: "Ok then. Make him call Ghelfi and tell him he wants to leave. And get him to call that tall muppet too, what's his name... the president... Facchetti!"

==========

‘Evil Moggi’ Accused Of Corrupting Football
2/8/2005 4:18:00 PM

The former Ancona President, Ermanno Pieroni, has launched an astonishing
attack at Juve’s Luciano Moggi for allegedly damaging football. In an interview published by Italian newspaper ‘La Repubblica’, Ermanno Pieroni has verbally assaulted the Bianconeri’s General Manager, Luciano Moggi.

According to Pieroni, Moggi controls eight Serie A teams and is trying to take control of other clubs apart from having a major say in where players and coaches end up.

“Moggi manages to control, through his men, eight teams of Serie A. In these weeks he’s applying pressure to enter in Roma. He wants to remove the Sports Director Franco Baldini to substitute him with Mariano Fabiani of Messina. He placed at Lazio a federal Sports Director like Gabriele Martino. He also has trusted men at Della Valle’s Fiorentina. Through Gea World he controls two hundred players and coaches. In the past weeks Siena made the best winter transfers. They took six quality players among whom a world
class player like Tudor. Gigi Simoni was sacked by Gea.

“He boasted with me that every day he suggested solutions to the Federal President Franco Carraro. He retired De Sisti and Agroppi, two hostile coaches, and the next target is to close Boniek’s mouth as he likes to tell the truth on the Domenica Sportiva (Italian football TV program). He has friends everywhere: one of them is Pierluigi Pairetto, referee designator. Moggi has friends on all levels of the Italian football federation: in fact he never is interrogated, cautioned, punished. He’s a vindictive person; he has contributed to ruin this nice football and to destroy Ermanno Pieroni.”

Pieroni was recently imprisoned for corruption, however the former Perugia Sports Director claims that he only played a small part in a very corrupted football world and directly accused Moggi that it was his fault he ended up in prison as the Bianconero manager wanted revenge for the 1999/2000 season, where Juventus lost the Scudetto to Lazio on the last matchday against Pieroni’s Perugia.

Pieroni now president of Ancona told reporters that Moggi has gone as far as threat harm on him to keep his mouth shut. Pieroni told Moggi to leave him and Ancona alone or he will go to the courts. Moggi responded, "Forget the courts, we have friends that can cause you alot of pain"

Pieroni says “I lived in a corrupt football world but I only did the 10% of what I saw. If I had to reconstruct who made me pay for this, Moggi is on top of my list.”

==========

The ref Dondarini talks to Lega Calcio ref designator Pairetto. Dondarini has been chosen for the Sampdoria v Juve game.

Pairetto: "Wednesday you need a good game, you know they always are there."

Dondarini: "Yeah, those are special matches."

Pairetto: "Yes they are."

Dondarini: "Yeah yeah, you have to do it."

Pairetto: "So..."

Dondarini: "With 50 eyes, well opened."

Pairetto: "How?"

Dondarini: "With 50 eyes opened."

Pairetto: "Yeah good, to see what sometimes is not even there. I don't need to tell you more."

==========

Great stuff from Roberto Mancini, interviewed by Gazzetta, he was asked for comments about the Moggi-gate:

MANCINI: "What's the news? This is old news. I don't see anything new, these things are well known."

"I've always been a player and a coach who doesn't cheat. I might have missed some goals as a player and got the formation wrong as a coach, but I never cheated."

"When I spoke about how difficult it is to win at Inter, I always meant that the team hasn't won in a long time. Actually, looking at the facts now, this club could have won more titles in the past."

"About Cannavaro, I'm surprised about what has been said, when I came to Inter he was still suffering from his tibia injury, and then he went to Juventus. I never had a chance to be his coach."

==========

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

==========

Juve's 'Lucky' runs out

Juventus may have managed to stay one step ahead of Milan in Serie A, but police finally caught up with their controversial director Luciano Moggi. James Richardson reports

For many in Italy, 'Lucky' Luciano Moggi is a living embodiment of Serie A sleaze.  A former railway stationmaster from Tuscany, his fine nose for a player, and ever burgeoning network of allies, has seen him rise over four decades from humble scout to the most influential man and inventive in the game.  In Naples, it was Moggi who, according to the then Napoli owner Corrado Ferlaino, supplied Maradona with his prosthetic dummy penis to bypass post-game urine tests.

At Torino, it was Moggi who allegedly provided female escorts for referees ahead of the club's Uefa Cup fixtures.  For the last 12 years, he has been running Juventus by fair means and, popular wisdom has it, foul - it is widely believed that their incredible record is largely thanks to Moggi's unholy grip on the referees.   Amazingly, until now none of these accusations have ever dented Lucky's position in the game.

Last week that all changed with the publication of transcripts from police in Turin of Moggi's phone calls with, among others, Antonio Giraudo (the Juve director recently acquitted of doping charges) and Pierluigi Pairetto, the Italian FA's head of refereeing selection.   This material was vague if compromising - particularly Pairetto's instructions to a referee selected for a Juve game that "a good ref will see every that happens there ... and even what doesn't ..." - but it was soon overshadowed by the news that two more Italian police forces are also running investigations on Moggi.
One of these is in connection with an illegal gambling and match-fixing ring in southern Italy.   The other concerns the activities of Moggi's son, Alessandro, who through his management agency GEA handles the affairs of over 200 Serie A footballers and managers.   As noted following Juve's spectacular win at Siena last week, the potential for a conflict of interest when these players and managers face Moggi senior's side is immense.   A charge of illegal competition through threats and violence now awaits Moggis junior and senior, and other GEA directors. Moggi senior also faces a criminal conspiracy charge from the gambling ring inquiry.   They haven't fingered him for the Spurs food poisoning (yet), but since investigators in Naples have yet to make public a year's worth of Moggi phone taps from the gambling case, it is clear that we are merely looking at the tip of an iceberg.

So far, five referees and an Italian FA vice-president have been unofficially suspended, while Pairetto has been removed from the Uefa referee's committee. More names will surely follow, but for Italian fans the one that really counts is Moggi. For over a decade he has occupied a unique role in contemporary Italian myth; the Mr Big behind everything and everyone, denying other clubs their just rewards.  Now that this theory is apparently being borne out by hard evidence, many fans are delighted to finally witness his downfall.  One banner this Sunday at (the now safe from relegation) Ascoli summed things up nicely: "Ascoli in Serie A, Moggi in jail = God Exists!"  A jail term is hard to imagine for a man with as many friends as he has, and nothing - certainly not match-fixing - has yet been proved against Lucky Luciano.

Still, at the very least his future in football looks irrevocably compromised.  On Sunday, he took his usual seat at the Stadio delle Alpi alongside Giraudo and the other member of Juve's management trinity, former Italy star Roberto Bettaga.  Come the final whistle, while Bettega burst into floods of tears, Moggi sped off without comment in a Fiat Multipla (with a disabled sticker in the back for easy parking, naturally).  It was subsequently made clear by the Agnelli family, the club's traditional backers, that both he and Giraudo will be removed from Juve's line-up as the club tries to distance itself from the scandal.  None of which will come as much consolation to Juve's players. Already long accustomed to jeers of "cheats" and "thieves" wherever they play, they now face seeing their latest campaign besmirched by the Moggi scandal.

And - allegations aside - it has been a remarkable campaign. Their recent slump and European collapse may have dimmed the memories, but this is a club that began the year in form unmatched anywhere in the history of the Italian league. The irony is that if any club didn't need underhand help, it was this one.  This Sunday at least they showed flashes of the old form to defeat a spirited Palermo side 2-1, moving closer to their fourth title in five years.  Pavel Nedved was back on form and even Zlatan Ibrahimovic found the back of the net, having run out of other places to boot the ball.   Despite Milan's 3-2 win at Parma, the gap at the top remains at three points.

Juve now need just a point on the final weekend to seal the title, and they face a markedly easier game than their rivals. While Milan host Champion's League hopefuls Roma, Juve visit a ragtag Reggina side that was hammered 5-2 last Sunday by Fiorentina.  Moreover, the game will be played in a neutral ground thanks to Reggina's recent stadium ban. Even Moggi couldn't have arranged it better! Unless of course, he did.  On which note, echoing Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti's exhortation to "remember the events of 2000" - when he as Juve's coach needed just one point from a similar game at Perugia, but still lost the title - I invite you all to tune in on Sunday to Bravo or hit me next week here to find out whether it all turns out as expected on the last day, or not. After all, miracles do sometimes happen. Just ask those fans in Ascoli.

 ==========

Leaked report begins to bug Italian fans
By Gabriele Marcotti

The wire-tapping revelations that have put Serie A in a spin

WHEN IT COMES TO FOOTBALL, ITALY is a naturally cynical and suspicious place and most Italians have no trouble suspecting that corruption, influence peddling and intimidation are rife. Last week, however, many found their worst suspicions vindicated.
During a 48-day period in 2004, Italian authorities bugged the phones of a number of leading figures in Serie A, including Luciano Moggi, the general manager of Juventus, Pierluigi Pairetto, the joint head of the Italian referees’ association and vice-chairman of Uefa’s referees’ commission, and Innocenzo Mazzini, the deputy chief executive of the Italian FA.

The investigators found no legal basis to proceed against anyone on criminal grounds since no law was broken, but in their report they urged the Italian FA to conduct its own inquiry because their findings revealed that Moggi was “able to arrange to have the officials of his choice” take charge of Juventus’s matches, a fact that they said was “real, precise and indisputably proven” .

But what rocked Serie A to its foundations was the fact that the contents of the bugged conversations were leaked to the press, opening a window on a world that many feared existed but few believed could be so vivid and explicit in its machinations.

There are countless revelations in the wire-taps. Some of them relate to Moggi’s opinion of others, such as Marcello Lippi, the former Juventus coach who is now in charge of the national team, whom Moggi harshly criticises, or various journalists, whom he insults.

Others offer a glimpse of how some transfers are conducted. Moggi rings Antonio Giraudo, the club’s chief executive, to tell him that Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a transfer target at the time, scored a hat-trick for Ajax. “What the hell! But I specifically told him to play badly!” an angry Giraudo says. “I told him! We had agreed that he would play badly, go see the manager after the game, tell him that he would never play for them again and demand that he be sold to us!” But the most disturbing calls are to Pairetto, whose job it was to assign referees to Serie A matches and, in his Uefa role, influence the assignments for the Champions League.

After Herbert Fandel, the German referee, disallowed a goal in the first leg of Juventus’s Champions League qualifying tie against Djurgardens, Moggi can be heard complaining: “What the **** kind of referee did you send us?” He then says of Fandel: “He can go **** himself, trust me. But now I’m counting on you (for the return leg) in Stockholm.” Moggi discovers that the referee for the return leg is not the one of his choosing — Lucilo Cardozo Cortez, of Portugal — but Graham Poll, from England, so he again rings Pairetto to ask for an explanation (and, in the process, manages to get Poll’s name wrong, calling him Paul Graham instead).

Pairetto seems all too solicitous in his response, saying that it was supposed to be Cardozo Cortez, suggesting that “something must have happened” and volunteering to get to the bottom of it “straight away”.

An even more shocking conversation takes place between Pairetto and Paolo Dondarini, the referee whom he had selected to officiate Juventus’s Serie A match against Sampdoria. “You know what you have to do,” Pairetto says. “Make sure you see everything. Even that which isn’t there.”

Moggi’s defence is that the leak is a gross violation of privacy (which it is) and that, in any case, the inquiry found no wrongdoing. But that was the criminal investigation. The sporting investigation — which the Italian FA has promised will be swift, thorough and severe — has just been opened.

As if that were not enough, Moggi and his son, Alessandro, are being investigated in a separate criminal inquiry in Naples. Alessandro, who runs GEA World, a football agency that controls about 200 professional footballers and managers, is suspected of “racketeering and aggravated intimidation”.

Meanwhile, Uefa has reprimanded Pairetto and Juventus are reportedly looking to distance themselves from Moggi and Giraudo. It has been reported that the Agnelli family are embarrassed by the revelations.

It may be a case of “too little, too late”.

For most of its history, the “Old Lady of Turin” saw itself as the epitome of style, class and probity, thanks to the guiding hand of the Agnelli family’s patriarch, the aristocratic and dashing Gianni, who died in January 2003. But that image was tarnished years ago by the abrasive, wheeler-dealer approach of Moggi, along with the rise of his son and his agency.

Leaving aside the recent revelations, the fact that the younger Moggi, at only 32, is the most powerful agent in the Italian game while his father runs Italy’s biggest club, raises obvious questions about a potential conflict of interest.

The problem with those is that they lead to an appearance of impropriety. When Juventus played Siena two weeks ago, seven of the 14 Siena players who appeared in the match were GEA clients, as were Gigi De Canio, the Siena manager and Giorgio Perinetti, the director of football. Juventus, who had not won in seven matches and had allowed AC Milan to close to within three points, went 3-0 up inside seven minutes.

Obviously, conditions such as these do nothing but fuel the worst suspicions. And, sadly, many Italians have had their suspicions vindicated by the contents of the wire-taps.

==========

Juve Board Resigns!

As allegations of corruption continue to swirl around Juventus, the club has announced that its entire board of directors has submitted its resignation to the shareholders and called a shareholders' meeting for the 29th of June 2006.

The Juventus board members are:

President Franzo Grande Stevens, vice-president Roberto Bettega, general manager Antonio Giraudo, general director Luciano Moggi, Carlo Sant' Albano, Jean Claude Blanc, Stefano Bertola, Giancarlo Cerutti, Luigi Chiappero, Andrea Pininfarina, Fabrizio Prete and Claudio Saracco.

 ==========

 

Juventus board resigns after phone tap scandal
(Changes dateline, adds detail)
MILAN, May 11 (Reuters) -

The entire board of Italian champions Juventus resigned on Thursday after days of press revelations over embarrassing telephone interceptions involving its top management.

The Italian Football Federation is investigating the content of tapped telephone conversations involving Juve general manager Luciano Moggi talking of refereeing appointments for games with a Football Federation official responsible for selecting match officials.
"The board has tendered its resignation," Juventus said, without offering any explanation. The statement said that a general assembly of the club's shareholders would be held on June 29.

Juve's share price fell by almost 10 percent on Thursday.
The case has rapidly snowballed, with public prosecutors in Turin, Rome and Naples now reportedly investigating alleged widespread malpractice involving referees and several Serie A clubs.
The president and vice-president of the Football Federation, Franco Carraro and Innocenzo Mazzini, have both resigned their positions in the wake of the publication of the taps.

Moggi is at the centre of the probes which are looking into the operation of the GEA management company headed by his son Alessandro, which controls the affairs of almost 200 players and coaches in Italy.
On Wednesday, judicial sources in Turin said that Juve CEO Antonio Giraudo was under investigation for false accounting relating to player transfer deals.

Giraudo and Moggi are both members of the Juventus board but it was not immediately clear how the resignation of the board would effect their full time positions with the club who they are under contract to.
Juventus is owned by Ifil, the holding company of the FIAT group.
The club's share price fell by almost 10 percent on Thursday.

 ==========

LUCIANO MOGGI AND PAOLO BERGAMO DISCUSS THE REFEREE DESIGNATIONS (9th February 2005)

Moggi: ...Now I tell you what I had studied
Bergamo: ...Let’s see what we agree on with what I had studied!
Moggi: ...Let’s see a bit if…
Bergamo: ...Let’s see who studied best... Who do you put in the first grid of teams? Of games?
Moggi: ...wait...let me get the paper! Because I checked it out well today... So I put: Inter-Roma;
Bergamo: ...yes...
Moggi: ...Juventus-Udinese;
Bergamo: ...yes...
Moggi: Reggina-Milan;
Bergamo: ...yes...
Moggi: Fiorentina-Parma, which cannot be left out and Siena-Messina;
Bergamo: ...yes...;
Moggi: ...I put five, however we can also put four! It’s not like Siena-Messina is an important match! I think so, no?
Bergamo: Then there’s also Livorno-Sampdoria where in the first round there was a lot of problems! However, it’s ok! Go ahead, as anyway... it doesn’t change much!
Moggi: ...I know teams which ...I know teams Livorno and Sampdoria which in practice are a bit calmer!
Bergamo: Uhhh! Not really! Well! Ok, go ahead! Because anyway not much changes, we can also add another one if we wanted, however I have only a few referees for the first slot! Tell me!
Moggi: I put: Bertini...
Bergamo: ...uh...
Moggi: ...Paparesta who returns...
Bergamo: ...no, Palapresta does not return!
Moggi: He returns on Friday!
Bergamo: Are you sure?
Moggi: Sure!
Bergamo: But if Gigi told me that this Uefa commitment will keep him out till the 12th?
Moggi: ...ehm... What he told you is crap...and when’s the 12th??
Bergamo: ...Saturday!...
Moggi: No, no, he returns on Friday night!...Bertini, Paparesta, Trefoloni, Ragalbuto, I had placed Tombolini, but Tombolini then made a mess with Lazio, I don’t know how this is, that is he made a mess, he gave a penalty...
Bergamo: ...uh...
Moggi: ...and these were the referees I had placed in this grid!
Bergamo: ...and Rodomonti instead of Tombolini, right?
Moggi: ....or Rodomonti instead of Tombolini, is fine too!
Bergamo: ...and so we had done it the same way, you see!
Moggi: ...I, I think...I think that this can be a grid…a grid;
Bergamo: ...that is I don’t have Paparesta. I had 4. I had: Bertini, Ragalbuto, Rodomonti and Trefoloni! And sincerely I want to stop Tombolini for a match because he made a mistake, otherwise you never punish them?
Moggi: ...yes...yes...no, no, no...Eh...oh? Look, let me tell you... maybe I’m wrong, also I have some people to keep under, no? If you, for example, don’t punish Collina and Rosetti, the others are all authorized
Bergamo: ....but in fact, I did not put Collina and Rosetti, eh?
Moggi: ...No, just to tell you, but the others are authorized to say: if they do it, we can do it too, they cannot break our balls!
Bergamo: ...I have written down: Bertini, Rodomonti, Trefoloni, then you tell me Paparesta, better! Paparesta arrives and is used as a referee! The important thing is that he arrives on Friday because Inter-Roma is moved forward to Saturday!
Moggi: No, no Friday night he will be there! No, no, there are no problems....
(…)
Moggi: ...I think...I think that there is no problem... this grid has no problem! I think! I think so, but then in football you never, if there are problems, however.
Bergamo: ...no, but also I believe in this, eh... the only thing, it doesn’t even interest me if Bertini goes to do Reggina-Milan which is the sixth time for Milan and... from that moment he will precluded!Patience, oh! He will not ref Milan-Juventus but this is not what worries me! Because anyway he already took care of the first leg, therefore!

MOGGI AND GIRAUDO DISCUSS ZEMAN (22nd December 2004)
Phone call between the two Bianconeri managers who talk about the coach who accused Juventus of being doped.

Moggi: Zeman? We must...we must do something to him, I don’t know a system, pity… we must hit him with a piece of wood...
Moggi: We need ‘to take all the hemorrhages’, causing him a damage, inventing something, removing a player from him, finding some…


THE ‘SUSPECTED’ MILAN GAMES
Not just Moggi is involved in these interceptions, even a Milan manager (Meani) who calls the linesman Contini, designated for the Milan-Brescia match of the 9th of April 2006 which ended 1-1. In this interception, Contini calls Mean for a dinner-meeting

Meani: ..cool, if there wasn’t the uncle, however always eh?
Contini: *laughs*

The second game is Milan-Chievo 1-0 from the 20th of April and the interception involves Bergamo and Pairetto

Bergamo: "a...a…and, one who has been already for two months which we should have put him and there was some pressure and therefore… we put Puglisi to direct Milan-Chievo?...ehm, yesterday there were mistakes and therefore they ask: why do you penalize us? ehm, that is with me they did not speak, eh? I’ll tell you the truth, they alled Gennaro (Mazzei)

The third match is Siena-Milan 2-1 from the 17th of April 2005. In this case, according to the investigators believe that the Rossoneri were damaged in favour of Juve.

Mazzini to Giraudo: "however...however I must say that our friend was exceptional at Siena, eh

Contini talking about Baglioni, linesman designated for the Siena-Milan game: he’s Pairetto’s friend, if you want to know he’s the one who books the tickets for him, that Pairetto goes to eat at his house, not at the restaurant, at his house.
Meani: "What the f…, what the f…, I really don’t want him, I don’t want him, I never asked for him nor wanted him, this is one… now he’s also asking me to be very careful, dh, not to make mistakes because Galliani is very angry, obviously. So tell him to be very careful form now on… till the end of the season… however Gennaro is very angry, tell him that from now on he must not make any f…. mistakes because he’s very angry, therefore also on Wednesday try to send two intelligent ones.

CARRARO TALKS TO BERGAMO ABOUT HELPING LAZIO

Here are some extracts from the conversations between Bergamo and Pairetto, after the President of the FIGC (Carraro) asked Bergamo to help Lazio for the Chievo-Lazio game which the Biancocelesti won 1-0 on the 20th of February 2005.

Bergamo: ...Lotito was looking for me, he wanted to know, he spoke with Carraro, I think on Friday, on the request for attention for his case, because you know he’s one of the flag bearers pro Carraro, pro Galliani, but Carraro told you something and he did not tell you anything?... try to understand Gigi, he wants to know just if Carraro told you something, to keep into consideration Lazio’s position and his own, because he is doing a lot…

A telephone conversation between Mazzini and Lotito

Lotito: Therefore he spoke with him?... This is a positive thing, so it means that he is loyal with me…
(…)
Lotito: …but he did it specifically or generically? … in the sense for a conduction, even a future one, not just specific for a thing
Mazzini: no. no...he confirmed it to me, not only...but it’s a pressing intervention
Lotito: You must work on both of them and talk to them clearly, start, start, we must see and start to say, did you understand? To establish, to establish, understood?

The second match is the won Lazio won against Parma 2-0 on the 27th of February 2005, which was directed by Messina. In this case Carraro had a direct interest in this game and Mazzini called Lotito.

Mazzini: ...We must avoid relegation in every way, eh?...
Lotito: ...aoh, on Sunday I have Parma eh? Which is important
Mazzini: they will arrest you...they will arrest you
Lotito: ...Aho? And why should they?...
Mazzini: ehh! Ask those guys from Parma...ask the Parma guys!...

The third Lazio match is the one against Bologna (2-1). Apparently, the designation of Tagliavento as a referee was predetermined by Carraro, Bergamo, Pairetto, Mazzini and Lotito.

Lotito: ...the problem now is at Bologna…listen to me…look that Bologna is important, you know why or what he did to me Gazzoni…you know what he told me…on Sunday next to me? I will make a declaration…I told him ok…do the declaration
Mazzini: You do the declaration…we take the points

BERGAMO CALLS THE ROMA-JUVENTUS’ FOURTH OFFICIAL

Paolo Bergamo called the fourth official of the Roma-Juventus match so that he would keep his mobile phone turned on during the half time and the game, recommending him a “secure mobile”

Bergamo to employee Fazi: Listen, I need a courtesy…can you call Francesca (wife of the referee Marco Gabriele, fourth official of the Roma-Juve match) Marco’s wife… and tell him that tonight he needs to leave the mobile phone on…so that if there was the need for something… between the first and second half… or also to take it on the pitch, it’s the same…since there…eventually only I call him, but if there was any need I would be able to contact him…tell him that it should be a secure mobile and then…however do it through Francesca, not directly with him

==========

Italian football's tangled web
By Dan Warren

The match-fixing scandal which has engulfed Italian football has stunned fans across Europe.
It is an extraordinary tale involving wiretaps, illicit meetings and even allegations of locking referees in dressing rooms.

BBC Sport spoke to Italian sport journalist Giancarlo Galavotti to unravel the tangled web which has shaken Italian football.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED?


Even the old women going to the market in the morning want to read about this - it is astonishing
Italian sport journalist Giancarlo Galavotti

Some of the biggest clubs and individuals in Italian football have found themselves at the centre of match-fixing allegations.
The scandal revolves around transcripts of phone taps which appear to show key figures in Italian football putting pressure on referees to favour certain clubs.

The allegations were uncovered as prosecutors investigated doping allegations at Juventus, Italy's most popular and successful club.

That probe, which resulted in club doctor Riccardo Agricola being found guilty of administering drugs to players in the mid-90s, resulted in phone taps being ordered by Turin prosecutors.

As a result, Juventus - winners of their 29th Serie A title on 14 May - have been implicated alongside AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio.

Juventus' general manager Luciano Moggi, who resigned after Juve secured the title, is at the centre of the scandal although he has protested his innocence.

Italian football federation (FIGC) president Franco Carraro and vice-president Innocenzo Mazzini have also resigned and the pair, along with Juventus chairman Antonio Giraudo, are among those under formal investigation.

Galavotti, who writes for Italian daily sport newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, told BBC Sport: "Our sales have rocketed by about 50,000 copies a day since this happened.

"Even old women going to the market in the morning want to read about this. It is astonishing."

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS?

Prosecutors are investigating Moggi and Giraudo for allegedly detaining referee Gianluca Paparesta and his two assistants in a changing room after Juve's 2-1 loss at Reggina in November 2004.

They are alleged to have berated the officials for not favouring Juve during the game.

In another transcript published by the Italian media, Moggi speaks to Pierluiggi Pairetto, the vice-chairman of Uefa's referees' commission, putting pressure on him to appoint a referee who will be favourable to Juve.


And on Tuesday Italian newspapers printed wiretaps of calls Moggi made to government minister Giuseppe Pisanu.
The Juve boss is alleged to have tried to persuade Pisanu to give the go-ahead to games despite the imminent death of Pope John Paul II - Juventus were scheduled to play against Fiorentina, who had two players suspended and two injured.

The game was cancelled when the Pope died and Pisanu, who is alleged to have asked for help for a lower-division team in his local area in return, has angrily denied any wrong-doing.

The troubles for Moggi do not stop there - he is under separate investigations with prosecutors in Naples and Rome looking into illegal gambling and the operation of a management company owned by his son Alessandro.

Meanwhile, Italy and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, still the world's most expensive 'keeper, is being probed over allegations he gambled on matches - strictly forbidden in Italy.

WHO IS LUCIANO MOGGI?


The power of Moggi was already legendary 12 years ago
Galavotti

Moggi has been with Juventus for 12 years and is one of Italian football's most powerful men.
Galavotti said Moggi had a formidable reputation.

"He has been considered as a sort of godfather of Italian football. When he joined Juventus 12 years ago, he was very sought after," he told BBC Sport.

"Until very recently Inter Milan were hoping to secure his services.

"The power of Moggi was already legendary 12 years ago, although not because of an ability to manipulate referees - that would have been too much.

"But he was considered to be ruler of the transfer market. It was commonly felt there wouldn't be a transfer in Italy without Moggi's consent."

HOW SERIOUS IS THIS?


Next season's Serie A could be 16 teams instead of 20 - and may not start until October
Galavotti

These events could prove even more serious than the events of 1980 when AC Milan and Lazio were demoted to Serie B following an investigation into match-fixing.
Galavotti said: "If it is proven that a club executive was successful in procuring illicit advantages in a match, that would be very serious.

"It might not just be demotion to Serie B - it could be a matter of how many divisions. They could go even below Serie B."

Juventus, who are owned by the powerful Agnelli family that also control car manufacturers Fiat, have qualified for next season's Champions League and Lazio for next season's Uefa Cup but both would be kicked out should the allegations be proven.

That will have a huge financial impact - Juve's shares had fallen by 20% by the time they were suspended on Monday - and there are other implications for Serie A after former senator Guido Rossi was named as "extraordinary commissioner" of the FIGC with emergency powers to reform the game.

Galavotti said: "His powers will be almost absolute. He could decide that next season's Serie A could be 16 teams instead of 20.

"Also, people say the state of Italian football is such that it is virtually impossible for the next season to start in August. Some say it will start as late as October."

HOW HAVE PEOPLE REACTED?


Moggi and Giraudo say they are victims and that things will be clarified to show just how innocent they are
Galavotti

Needless to say, fans, media and even those who do not normally follow football have been stunned.
Galavotti said: "I would compare it to the fall of the fascist regime in Italy. When it fell, everybody was more or less compromised, because it could not have stood in power for 20 years by itself.

"People would not admit to being fascist, but they were concealing or pretending that they never were, switching sides with alarming ease.

"There are plenty who are saying that nothing has been proven and nobody has been indicted of anything yet.

"Moggi and Giraudo say they are victims and that things will be clarified to show just how innocent they are.

"But the gut feeling among the vast majority of Italians is that this is scandal the likes of which there hasn't been before, at least in European football."

 ==========

Moggi: I was Milan's victim

Luciano Moggi’s lawyer claims the former Juventus director general was a victim of Milan’s power rather than the puppet master of Italian football.

The transfer guru’s intercepted phone calls sparked the wide-ranging Calciopoli scandal amid allegations of match-fixing and collusion with referees, re-named the ‘Moggi System’ by the Press, but he is taking on a new line of defence as Juve risk docked points or even demotion.

“Moggi has always moved only to preserve Juventus’ status against the real power centres,” claimed lawyer Fulvio Gianaria in newspaper ‘La Stampa.’

“I am referring to Milan, who have the television companies and therefore the possibility to negotiate and buy up the pay-per-view rights of the clubs.”

Gianaria is referring to the fact that Silvio Berlusconi, who owns Milan, also has substantial shares in Mediaset.

So far the Rossoneri have had only a marginal role in the investigation and the telephone calls intercepted have mainly suggested they were trying to prevent Moggi and Juventus dominating the system.

Now Moggi and his legal team claim the situation is reversed, creating even more confusion in the inquest.

“The intercepted conversations were between six or seven people and the police have whittled down 2,500 calls to around 40 to support their theory of a football Mafia dominated by Moggi,” continued the lawyer.

“We want to listen to and collate every single phone call to show the real power centres: television rights, the strength of clubs and the corporations within the football system. To think Moggi could not only re-balance that situation, but even become the real power, is a joke. If we don’t have the documentation, we cannot defend ourselves, so we won’t go to any interrogation for the moment.”

As Moggi has now resigned as Juve director general, he is no longer legally obligated to attend an interrogation by the Italian football Federation.

Milan have reacted angrily to these allegations and released a statement this afternoon. “Milan deplore the manifestly untrue statements that we buy and sell television rights. This is completely absurd.”

Meanwhile, public prosecutors interrogated Lazio President Claudio Lotito today over allegations of match-fixing and financial irregularities.

“We are able to prove that what we have been accused of does not square with the reality of the situation,” he said as he left the building.

“Lazio are totally alien to conditioning and illegitimate interests. This is a clear and honest club based on the principles and values of sport. I’ve done nothing wrong and have no reason to be worried.”

==========

Here is a short article summarizing all they have done, courtesey of Guatam from the Inter mailing list.

Gabriele Marcotti in The Times:


LET US PRETEND THAT YOU ARE AN ambitious executive at
a big club. You are relatively successful, but you are
not satisfied. You know you can do much better, even
though some of your rivals have more money. So what do
you do? Well, if you do not mind occasionally stepping
on to the wrong side of the law, you may wish to
follow the alleged methods of Luciano Moggi, the
Juventus general manager, who, over the past decade,
appears to have turned Serie A into his personal
fiefdom.
The first step is to accumulate power. And in football
that comes in different guises: money, influence over
the FA and the League, control of players and
referees. You have some money, but not enough to
control everything financially, so it is best to focus
on the other elements

The head of the League is elected by the clubs. The
head of the FA is also, effectively, determined by the
clubs, in the sense that they exert influence over who
gets the job. Thus, it is essential that you befriend
as many clubs as possible, particularly smaller ones,
because their vote counts as much as those of the big
ones.

The way to do this is to do them favours. Start by
loaning them players and talk up the brilliance of
their chairmen at league meetings.


EXHIBIT ONE

Moggi, talking to Andrea Dalla Valle, a Fiorentina
official, when the club was in danger of relegation
with two weeks to go: “The problem is you didn’t come
to me sooner. See, you didn’t know how things worked
and you were hurt by it. Let’s see what we can work
out so that you’re treated fairly from now on.”

Once your man is elected to run the FA, make it very
clear that he owes his job to you and must do what you
say. If he steps out of line be firm and swift in your
response.


EXHIBIT TWO

Moggi talking to Innocenzo Mazzini, vice-president of
the Italian FA, after Franco Carraro, head of the FA,
talked about more “transparent” refereeing: “Tell him
not to bust our balls. Better yet, I’ll talk to him
and put him in his place.”

The referee selectors are crucial. They need to pass
the message on to the officials that, if they make
mistakes that hurt your club, their careers will be
going nowhere.


EXHIBIT THREE

Moggi talking to Paolo Bergamo, one of Serie A’s two
referee selectors, complaining about Pierluigi Collina
and Roberto Rosetti, the officials, whose refereeing
was too “objective”.

If you don’t punish Rosetti and Collina, all the other
refs will feel entitled to do as they please. We don’t
need them breaking our balls!” Some officials will
nevertheless be independent and want to apply the laws
of the game. When that happens, you need to get tough.
Assaulting them after a game and locking them in the
referees’ dressing-room is one way to do it.


EXHIBIT FOUR

Pietro Ingargiola, a referee assessor, talking to
Tullio Lanese, head of the Italian referees’
association, after Juventus’s controversial 2-1 defeat
away to Reggina: “He [Moggi] came into the
dressing-room and was furious. He berated Paparesta
[the referee], stuck his finger in his face and then
locked him in there! It was crazy! Don’t worry,
though, I’ m not saying a thing about it. I don’t
remember anything and I didn’t see anything. But it
was mad, I tell you!” You will need parts of the media
on your side as well. It is a good idea to pick out a
few favourite influential journalists and give them
little treats: gossip, bits of news, interviews with
your star players. The press can be very servile. Use
the carrot-and-stick approach to get your way. In
exchange, they will attack your enemies and defend
your friends.


EXHIBIT FIVE

Moggi talking to Aldo Biscardi, presenter of a popular
football show, after a 0-0 draw between Juventus and
AC Milan, in which Andriy Shevchenko was
controversially denied a penalty appeal: “You need to
lay off the referee in this one. You either say the
referee was correct in his decision or you don’t show
the images at all and gloss over it.”

Over time, referees will get wind of this system and
realise that it is in their best interest to help you
out. Making favourable decisions is one way they can
help, but there are other effective ways they can do
this. One painless method is booking players who are
one yellow card away from suspension the week before
they face your team.


EXHIBIT SIX

In the 2004-05 season, 25 players picked up their bans
in the week immediately before they faced Juventus.
Tony Damascelli, a journalist, congratulating Moggi
after two Bologna defenders received bookings that
banned them from facing Juventus the next weekend:
“Great job! You took out half their back four!” Sadly,
some foolish people will get wind of your methods. You
need to make it clear that, while you accept that not
everyone will like you, those who speak out need to be
punished.


EXHIBIT SEVEN

Moggi speaking to Antonio Giraudo, the Juventus chief
executive, after Zdenek Zeman, the Lecce manager, had
complained that Moggi was running Italian football:
“We need to deal with him, we need to beat him up. We
need to make him haemorrhage, that’s what we need to
do. We’ll invent something, we’ll mess with some of
his players.”

Control over players is essential. To do this, create
a football agency and get your 32-year-old son to run
it. Hand-pick partners for him, such as the scions of
powerful families.


EXHIBIT EIGHT

Moggi’s son, Alessandro, was the chief executive of a
company called GEA World, whose partners were Chiara
Geronzi, the daughter of Cesare Geronzi, the head of
Capitalia, Italy’s second-biggest bank, and the
financial institution of choice for many clubs who
relied on its credit to stay afloat, and Giuseppe De
Mita, a former Lazio official and son of a former
Italian Prime Minister. GEA represents about 200
footballers and managers in the Italian game.

Once you have set up your agency, your control over
smaller clubs will be consolidated. You can now place
players and managers where you please, knowing they
will do your bidding.


EXHIBIT NINE

Stefano Argilli, the former Siena midfield player
voted player of the year in 2004-05, was forced to
leave the club last summer. “Our new manager was GEA,
our general manager was GEA, half the team was GEA,”
he said. “It was clear to me that if I wanted to stay,
I would have to sack my agent and join GEA as well.”

If you do all this, people will fear you and respect
you. Your enemies will feel powerless.

EXHIBIT TEN

Mazzini, the vice-president of the Italian FA,
speaking to Moggi: “You’re the boss of the Italian
game! You own Serie A!”

==========

 

==========

Italy magistrate to hand over scandal findings

ROME, June 19 (Reuters) - The magistrate leading the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) probe into alleged match-fixing in Serie A is expected to finish his investigation on Monday and pass his report to the Federation's prosecutor.

Francesco Borrelli, who headed the "Clean Hands" investigations into political corruption in the 1990s, will hand over the results of six weeks of interviews with referees and officials from the FIGC and leading clubs to Stefano Palazzi.

Guido Rossi, a lawyer who was appointed soccer commissar after the top FIGC brass resigned over the scandal, had given Borrelli until Monday to finish his investigation.

Italian media said the magistrate would hand over his report to Palazzi on Monday afternoon.

Italy's biggest soccer scandal in 20 years broke last month after newspapers published transcripts of intercepted telephone conversations between former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and FIGC officials discussing refereeing appointments.

Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina are among the clubs under investigation.

Rossi has given Palazzi until Friday to charge the accused and order them to stand trial beginning early next week. The FIGC chief said last week that he wants a ruling by July 9 -- the date of the World Cup final in Berlin.

If a club is found guilty of attempting to influence the outcome of matches, it faces possible penalties ranging from relegation to Serie B or having points deducted at the start of next season. Individuals would face a ban from the sport.

Borrelli's report was not expected to recommend specific sanctions, leaving it up to Palazzi to decide which clubs or individuals should be charged and stand trial, local media said.

==========

Calciopoli: Four clubs charged
Juventus, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina have been charged with sporting fraud as part of the Calciopoli scandal.
These are the clubs referred to the Disciplinary Commission at the end of a wide-reaching investigation into alleged match-fixing and collusion with referees.

While Juventus were the side at the centre of the inquest following wiretaps on former director general Luciano Moggi’s telephone conversations, and the Turin giants are expected to run the biggest risks.

They could face anything from docked points to stripped titles and demotion into Serie B or even Serie C.

Milan insisted they were the victims of sporting fraud rather than the perpetrators, but they too have been indicted.

Lazio and Fiorentina are thought to have had secondary roles, yet risk demotion if their involvement in sporting fraud is proved.

The trial will begin on June 28 and an appeal will be heard between July 7 and 9. The final appeal, at the Federal Court, will give its verdict before July 20
Galliani quits as Lega chief

Adriano Galliani has quit as President of the Italian Football League after he was one of 30 subjects indicted on Calciopoli charges.

Although the Milan official has denied any wrongdoing, he has this evening resigned as President of the Lega Calcio.

The FIGC prosecution team did indict four clubs - Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio - this evening, as well announcing that 30 “subjects” would also face a sporting tribunal.

The names of those people have now been revealed and Galliani is joined by more high profile figures of the game which include officials from both clubs and the FIGC.

A number of referees are also on the list which reads as follows: Luciano Moggi, Antonio Giraudo, Adriano Galliani, Leonardo Meani, Andrea Della Valle, Diego Della Valle, Sandro Mencucci, Claudio Lotito, Cosimo Maria Ferri, Franco Carraro, Innocenzo Mazzini, Tullio Lanese, Paolo Bergamo, Pierluigi Pairetto, Gennaro Mazzei, Pietro Ingargiola, Paolo Bertini, Massimo De Santis, Paolo Dondarini, Fabrizio Babini, Domenico Messina, Gianluca Paparesta, Gianluca Rocchi, Pasquale Rodomonti, Paolo Tagliavento, Claudio Puglisi

 ==========

Inter owner Massimo Moratti is threatening to sensationally take his team abroad if any clubs found guilty of sporting fraud are not suitably punished.

The Calciopoli sporting trial starts on June 29 in which Juventus, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina - plus 26 people - face a fight to clear their names.

And Moratti has maintained that he would consider transferring the Italian giants into a foreign championship if he’s not satisfied with the cleanliness of calcio.

“If you can’t play honest football here then perhaps there is the possibility of a League abroad wiling to house a great club,” he said. “I want to study that possibility.”

Moratti had previously been reserved in his thoughts with regard to the various scandals, but he’s clearly distraught and angered by the recent revelations.

“I feel conned,” stated the oil baron. “I keep thinking about all of the sacrifices that we made and what has come out has demonstrated that things are far worse than what we imagined.”

Inter have consistently failed to lift the Scudetto in recent years, often falling short of Italian giants Juventus and Milan.

“We are not intervening in the trial,” added Moratti. “We have always respected the rules and will see what happens now.”

The clubs involved do face heavy punishments if found guilty of any wrongdoing such as demotion to a lower Division. There is also the possibility that Juve could be stripped of their last two titles.

“I wouldn’t miss the presence of Milan and Juventus ,” noted the Nerazzurri chief. “As for the Scudetto, that can be handed out to Chievo, Inter or Roma.

“If the sides who finished ahead didn’t comport themselves in the right manner then it is only right that the first ‘clean’ club should be considered as coming first.”

Moratti is also hoping that leniency isn’t shown to those who have gone down the wrong path in recent years.

“People would be a little troubled if any sentences were not in line with the seriousness of what may have happened,” he added.

“This is the time where football must give the right example otherwise there would be a risk that it would no longer be considered as a serious sport.”

==========

==========

Trial delay worries UEFA

 ==========

Italian Soccer Corruption 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.
Palazzi requested that AC Milan, the club owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, SS Lazio and FCA Fiorentina all be relegated to Italy's second division, Serie B. The prosecutor presented his case against 26 individuals and four teams on corruption-related charges in Rome today in the trial that started June 29.
The prosecutor also recommended that Juventus be stripped of its last two Serie A league championships and start in Serie C next season with a six-point penalty.
In addition, Palazzi said Juventus, who would go into Serie C1 or below if his requests are upheld, should be stripped of their championship titles won in the last two seasons.
Juventus shares fell as much as 8.8 percent as of 12:05 p.m. in Milan.

==========

Calciopoli prosecutor Stefano Palazzi has today called for Juventus to be relegated into Serie C1, as well as urging the sporting tribunal to condemn Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina to Serie B.

Palazzi made his formal requests at around midday where he pushed for all the clubs charged with sporting fraud to face stiff penalties.

As well as seeing Juve thrown into “a Division lower than Serie B”, Palazzi wants them to be stripped of their last two Serie A titles and start the new campaign with a six-point penalty.

He’s also asked for Lazio and Fiorentina to begin with a 15 point penalty in next season’s Second Division, where they could be joined by a Milan side who start on minus three points.

There are also now 25, and not 26, individuals on trial for sporting fraud - FIGC member Cosimo Maria Ferri was cleared of any wrongdoing last night - and Palazzi is pushing for lengthy bans and fines.

Former Juventus director general Luciano Moggi, the man at the centre of the scandal, could face a five-year ban from the game plus multiple fines of 5,000 Euros.

Palazzi has asked for the same length of punishment to be handed out to ex-Juve chief executive Antonio Giraudo, Lazio President Claudio Lotito, Milan official Leonardo Meani, plus Diego and Andrea Della Valle of Fiorentina.

Other notable individuals who may face similar consequences include former FIGC chief Franco Carraro, ex-refereeing designators Paolo Bergamo and Pierluigi Pairetto, and current referee Massimo De Santis.

Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani is facing the threat of a two-year stop, while promising referee Gianluca Paparesta could be sidelined for a year.

The trial began last Thursday but was adjourned until Monday even if nobody was questioned on its restart as the day was dominated by objections from defence lawyers.

All involved maintain their innocence.

The FIGC are hoping for a verdict, which may not be as stiff as Palazzi is pushing for, to be delivered by July 10.

==========

Juventus 'accept Serie B'
Wednesday 5 July, 2006
Juventus’ lawyer told the Calciopoli trial that the best punishment for the club would be Serie B rather than a drop down to the Third Division.

“Demotion to Serie B with docked points would be a congruous punishment,” Cesare Zaccone claimed in court this evening.

Yesterday prosecutor Stefano Palazzi requested the Bianconeri go down to “a Division lower than Serie B” with a six-point penalty for their part in the match-fixing allegations. He also asked for Lazio and Fiorentina to begin with a 15 point penalty in Serie B, where they’d be joined by Milan on minus three points.

Director general Luciano Moggi is at the centre of the scandal after his telephone conversations were wiretapped, allegedly attempting to influence the referees assigned to their matches.

“You can’t talk about direct responsibility for Juventus, as Moggi has never been a legal representative of the club,” added the lawyer today. “I also believe that Antonio Giraudo should only be considered indirectly responsible for any wrong-doing. The only issue here is the seriousness of the facts, which in my view should be largely re-evaluated.”

The Turin giants are attempting to distance themselves from Moggi, who has already resigned from his post, and rescue the situation as best they can.

“The sanction requested by the prosecutor would devalue the squad by 80 per cent. As the trial continues, 79 per cent of the club’s income is in danger. (We'll help you generate funds, Juve. Give us Zambro & Buffon. ) Juventus do not have a single benefactor behind the side willing to invest money.”

Much has been made in the run-up to the trial of the so-called ‘Moggi system’, but lawyer Zaccone attempted to spread the blame.

“There were at least five different systems going on in football. One was created in Genoa, another in Florence, then in Rome which included leading figures in the Federation and another system working in Milan. All of them were opposed and conflicting. This is all that’s needed to explain why the idea of a Mafia-like total system involving everyone is impossible.”

Lazio President Claudio Lotito and Fiorentina patron Diego Della Valle also spoke at the trial today. Both insisted they were “victims of the system” rather than orchestrators and that they had never requested favours from referees.

Former FIGC President Franco Carraro spoke out this morning. “The accusation of sporting fraud levelled at me is humiliating and vile. I acted in good faith and have never cheated anyone. If the facts are confirmed, then something very serious happened in the 2004-05 season.”

==========

Italy FA boss snubs Berlusconi's call for leniency
Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:23 PM BST9

ROME, July 13 (Reuters) - The head of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has snubbed calls by the country's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for leniency towards clubs involved in the Serie A match-fixing trial.

"I'm not interested in what he says. I've got my own job to do," said Guido Rossi on Thursday, responding to claims by Berlusconi earlier in the day that sanctions against clubs would hit innocent fans the hardest.

Berlusconi is the owner and president of AC Milan, one of four clubs from Italy's top division -- along with Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio -- accused of trying to influence the appointment of match officials for games during the 2004-05 season.

Twenty-five individuals, including club and federation officials, referees and linesmen, are also awaiting the verdicts of the trial, which are expected on Friday or Saturday.

"We will not accept punishments against the fans, the teams, when the people who should be punished are the individuals that made the mistakes," said Berlusconi.

"I'm not talking only on behalf of Milan, but also on behalf of the fans of Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio who have written to me."

If found guilty, Juventus could be relegated to Italy's third division or lower and be stripped of the Serie A titles they won in 2005 and 2006.

The other three clubs risk relegation to Italy's second-tier Serie B. Individuals face bans from the sport.

In the wake of Italy's World Cup victory several Italian politicians, including the country's Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, have called for a general amnesty for all those facing charges.

The scandal broke in early May with the publication of intercepted telephone conversations between former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and senior FIGC officials discussing refereeing appointments during the 2004-05 season.

==========

Trio relegated, Milan survive

Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have been demoted to Serie A for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal, but Milan have survived the drop.

The eagerly anticipated match-fixing verdicts were finally delivered this evening after seven days of deliberation by the CAF court.

Juventus have been stripped of their last two Serie A titles, sent down to Serie B and will start the new campaign with a 30 point deduction.

Lazio and Fiorentina have also been stripped of their Serie A status and will start with minus seven and minus 12 points respectively.

Milan have kept their place in Serie A but have been deducted 44 points from last season’s tally which means they will not be allowed to enter the Champions League.

The Rossoneri will also start the 2006-07 campaign with a 15 point deduction in the First Division.

Although this evening’s verdicts are strict, they are lighter than the ones called for by the FIGC prosecution team.

Stefano Palazzi had called for Juventus, at the centre of the scandal, to be relegated to a Division “lower than Serie B” and deducted six points.

He also urged the court to relegate the three other teams to Serie B with a 15-point deduction for Fiorentina and Lazio, but declared that Milan should only be docked three points.

All the teams involved do have the right to appeal.

==========

Calciopoli: Part Two

According to an Italian newspaper, two more Serie A sides are set to be sucked into the Calciopoli scandal.

Daily paper Il Giornale claims that the head of the Calciopoli investigation Francesco Saverino Borrelli is due to receive 300 pages of previously unseen telephone transcripts that incriminate at least two more clubs.

So far there is no indication of which sides may be put under the spotlight, but Il Giornale has promised to reveal all within the next few days.

The anticipated second wave of scandal could cause a complete review of last Friday’s verdict and may even delay the start of the new season.

Meanwhile, Guido Rossi - special commissioner of the Italian Football Federation - has called for an increase in the number of sides promoted from Serie B next term.

Rossi believes that three rather than two sides should be automatically promoted from the second tier due to the number of big clubs now competing in Serie B.

==========

Juve remains in Serie B -17
Viola (-19) and Lazio (-11) are up in serie A
Milan remains in A and will have -8

==========

Moggi will have much to think about. Last month the luck of 'Lucky Luciano' finally ran out and he was forced to resign from his post as general manager of Juventus, the best supported and most successful club in Italian football, the present champions. On 14 July, a specially appointed tribunal found that, as a result of Moggi's activities, Juventus had, over a period of years, won games that they otherwise might not have done. The richest team in Italy were as punishment relegated to the second division, Serie B, docked enough points to ensure that they will remain there for at least two seasons and stripped of the championships they had won in the past two years. AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were also punished - all docked points and all but the first being relegated. Italy, even with its history of sporting and political scandals, had never seen anything like it. And all this in the month when the national team had returned from Germany with the country's fourth World Cup.

Moggi's 'system', known as 'Moggiopoli', has been picked over by scores of magistrates, detectives and special legal investigators appointed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Hundreds of pages of recorded conversations between key figures have been made publicly available. Less available but circulating none the less are thousands of pages of further documents. Together they show that, in addition to four of the most powerful clubs in the world, the scandal touches the top ranks of most of the major Italian football administrative bodies, dozens of referees, several of the best known Italian sports commentators, even a former government minister and, at least indirectly, several of the World Cup squad.

The question is a simple one. How did one man buy - or at least gain control over - what is one of the richest European leagues, a league that has just produced a World-Cup winning squad (all of the 23-man squad played for Italian clubs)? Finding out is not easy. First, there is a problem of sources. The documents produced by the various inquiries are voluminous but inconclusive. Second, few want to talk about the scandal. A third reason is the very nature of Moggi's activity.

Earlier this year, for an article published in our January issue, I investigated match-fixing networks in northern Europe, predominantly in Belgium and Germany, though there were connections to Greece, Turkey, parts of Scandinavia and, possibly though it was difficult to prove, France, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. Here the modus operandi of the criminals, who were often from eastern Europe, was quite simple. They corrupted referees and, if possible, offered cash and girls. A referee and two players would be enough to ensure a result. The money was not huge - German players agreed to throw games for a thousand or so euros - but the profits were substantial. By betting on games or sequences of results on the internet, the fixers could earn millions with little difficulty and little risk. This was relatively traditional sporting crime, I wrote in January.

But what Moggi was doing was very different. A revealing fact is that no one involved in the scandal in Italy has been found guilty in a criminal court. So far there is no sign of meetings in hotel rooms where large sums of cash are handed over. There are not even any matches which, definitively, were known to have been rigged. There are no players or referees who have been shown to have accepted brown envelopes. Yet no one doubts that Moggi was able to have a huge, nefarious influence on Italian football which profoundly helped Juventus (and possibly several others) to win. Moggi was somehow able to select referees for games, influence the selection of other teams, have games postponed or cancelled and influence the media coverage of football in a country in which football is a kind of secular worship. So how did he do it? To understand, you have to understand Luciano Moggi, what his rise says about Italian football and what his eventual fall says about Italy.

Luciano Moggi was born at Monticiano, a small provincial town near Siena, among the rolling hills and vineyards and walled towns of Tuscany. This part of the world may be loved by the British middle class and indeed middle-class British Prime Ministers but it was less than romantic for the young Moggi. He left school at 13 and started working on the railways, rising during his twenties to the heights of deputy head of a ticket office. As a youth, Moggi was taken by a baker, a part-time scout for local sides, to football games all over Tuscany. He was hooked and, though a lack of talent restricted him to a stint with a fourth-division club, by the end of his twenties he had shown that he had a very good eye for young talent, working as a freelance scout for a number of clubs including Juventus. His approach was novel. It was personal - almost 'rustic' according to Marco Travaglio, Moggi's biographer.

'He was not just interested in the ability of a player but in his family situation, in his personality,' said Travaglio. 'He was not just a manager but became a second father [to the players], an older brother and was very successful as a result.' In addition, he was a magnificent salesman. In a move that says much about how he worked, Moggi hired as an assistant the baker who had once taken him to games. What goes round, comes round. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Once a friend, always a friend. The basic principle of the Moggi system.

Moggi was noticed by Italo Allodi - the Italian 'supermanager' who had run the business side of Internazionale when Helenio Herrera coached the club to two consecutive European Cup victories in the Sixties. These victories were tainted by allegations that Allodi had bribed the referees in semi-finals against Dortmund and Liverpool. Brian Glanville, the respected British sports writer, investigated Allodi in the early Seventies, particularly over an alleged unsuccessful attempt to bribe the referee in Juve's 1973 European Cup semi-final against Derby County, an allegation that was never proved.

Allodi gave Moggi a job in the administration of Juventus's network of scouts with special responsibility for young players. Long before the rest of Europe, Italian football was moving into a different age with superstar players, high-profile managers and a whole new professionalism. In 1975, Moggi moved to Roma, where he refined his personal and effective way of doing things. He had already developed a warm demeanour that appealed to players, built a network of scouts across the entire country and worked out how to endear himself to the powerful actors in the Italian football hierarchy. But in the capital he broadened and deepened his networks of contacts, moving outside football, the better to control what was happening inside the sport. These years were key. Moggi was tireless, networking assiduously with politicians, magistrates, diplomats, military officers, celebrities and especially journalists. 'He understood the value of advertising and media very early on,' said Travaglio. 'They were going to be the winners in football, the soul of the business.' What Moggi understood, too, was that he needed to stay in the shadows while manipulating something that was continually in the public eye.

There was nothing obviously malign about him. He was charming, witty, good company, always ready to help or to do someone a favour, a little shady perhaps but well connected and an operator. He was by now a little smoother as well - having ditched rustic habits such as wiping his mouth on his tie after eating. Above all, Moggi was a good man to know, a good man to have 'on-side', a good man to have as a friend. The first part of 'the Moggi system' was firmly in place.

One afternoon in Rome I had lunch with Gianni Bondini, a columnist at the Gazzetta dello Sport and Italian sports journalism's elder statesman. The Moggi scandal, I ask, why now? Why here? 'It's a very Italian story,' he says. It was broken by his own newspaper back in April. There had been two separate judicial investigations into football corruption. One was being run by magistrates in Turin investigating allegations that Juventus players had been doped. Another, run from Rome, had started after a mafia supergrass told magistrates of illegal betting on football and of corrupt referees. Though the allegations proved to be ungrounded, the investigating magistrates' wiretaps turned up what appeared to be evidence of something much bigger: the Moggi system. In the spring of this year, the Turin magistrates approached the nation's football authorities but swiftly realised that the governing bodies themselves were implicated. At that stage, the Prime Minister was still Silvio Berlusconi who, as the president and owner of AC Milan, one of the four big clubs in the line of fire, was not in favour of a public investigation. So, says Bondini, very quickly the magistrates turned to the press. The story, naturally, was front-page news.

The scandal has its root in the commercialisation of Italian football, explains Bondini, a mild and gracious elderly man. Moggi started making good money as Serie A became the richest and most glamorous league in the world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 'The Italians pioneered the modern internationalism of football,' Bondini says. 'Remember Maradona coming to Naples in 1984? When money comes in the window, sport goes out of the door. We now have a degenerated football system. We have "rich football". And it's a real mess.'

But Italy are world champions?

'You can't connect the scandal and winning the cup - apart from the fact that the players tried harder because they wanted to redeem their reputations and add to their market value if they were going to be sold,' Bondini says, a little cynically.

'We produce great players because of various things. We have a very competitive league with a very high standard. Italian players are very efficient and very clever. And then there is the Italian nature. It's the fault of our grandmothers. They slept with everybody. So we have lots of different races mixed up in our genes and that makes for great footballers.'

Thinking of the hurled banana, the monkey chants, the vilification of black players as well as the fascist salutes and flags that Italian crowds are known for, I point out that there is a slightly less tolerant attitude to racial integration today.

'That's not true,' says Bondini. '[Immigrant populations] are a part of Italy. If you look at the guys selling stuff in the street, they are all blacks. All the towns in the north east of the country have developing industries thanks to illegal immigrants. Rome's Esquilino district is all Chinese.'

Surely there is a link between the World Cup victory and the scandal? The high standard of Serie A depends in part on all the foreign players and they are here partly at least for the money.

'Yes,' agrees Bondini. 'For the money and for the huge interest in soccer in this country. In most civilised countries you get comment about a match the day afterwards, not all week. And I can tell you what we will remember of this summer. Our sales tell you. We sell 600,000 usually; we sold 900,000 with the Moggi scandal on the front page; we sold 2.5 million when we won the World Cup.'

Ah yes, the World Cup. Italy's tournament was coloured rather than stained by the scandal unfolding back home. For Bondini, the outflow of sporting sewage in Italy merely made the hard-fought triumph of the Azzurri all the more remarkable, throwing it into relief like a diamond set amid manure. It was certainly unprecedented. Never before have players from a side flown home during a tournament to appear before investigators who, effectively, were accusing them of being corrupt.

One of the first to be heard was Marcello Lippi, the Italy coach. On 19 May, three weeks before the World Cup started in earnest in Germany, Lippi appeared in front of magistrates to answer charges that his selection of players for the Italian national team had been influenced by Moggi. Concerns had been raised by investigations into GEA World, Moggi's sports agency which employs Lippi's son, Davide. The allegation was that Moggi had put pressure on Lippi to select fewer Juventus players for the national team to minimise injuries and fatigue. In the event, Lippi did select five Juventus players for the World Cup (in all 13 out of the squad of 23 play for clubs that have been found guilty in the scandal) and has been cleared of any wrongdoing. It still appears likely however that Moggi attempted to influence the coach - in itself a good example of how his system could work.

Yet it was not just the coach who was touched by the scandal. Just days before the start of the tournament, Fabio Cannavaro, the Italy captain and then Juventus defender, as well as his French team-mate at Juventus, David Trezeguet, travelled to Rome to be interviewed as witnesses by the magistrates investigating allegations of 'illegal competition with use of threats and violence' at GEA. Cannavaro eventually lifted the cup; Trezeguet missed a crucial penalty as France lost the final after extra time. Goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, one of the stars of the tournament, is more seriously threatened. He is alleged to have become involved in illegal betting on domestic games and has yet to be cleared.

There was too the story of Gianluca Pessotto who, after 11 years playing for Juventus and the national side, retired and took a job as the club's sporting director in May. Efficient, honest, reliable if slightly uninspiring - for every Zidane, Lippi has said, there needs to be a Pessotto - he threw himself from a window on 27 June with a string of rosary beads in one hand. He hit two cars, very seriously injuring himself. According to his wife, Pessotto, who had no involvement with any wrongdoing at Juventus at all, was suffering from chronic depression.

A friend to almost everyone in the Italian team, Pessotto's apparent suicide attempt deeply affected the players in Germany. 'I'm finding it difficult at the moment, almost impossible, to talk about football or matches and all the emotions that you're supposed to feel at a World Cup,' Buffon said before the quarter-final against Ukraine.

Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Zambrotta, team-mates at Juventus, both left Italy's training camp and flew back to visit Pessotto in hospital, returning to Germany the same night to rejoin the squad. Doctors denied a recovering Pessotto the pleasure of watching the final - the excitement was thought likely to be too much for the patient - but the day after the game he received three rather exceptional visitors: Cannavaro, Zambrotta and the World Cup itself.

The 1980s were turbulent times for Moggi. He spent an unhappy year at Lazio from 1980-81. The club was embroiled in a huge corruption scandal, the famous match-fixing affair that involved Paolo Rossi, who returned from a two-year ban to inspire Italy to World Cup victory in Spain in 1982. Unlike the most recent scandal, it involved large amounts of cash and the simple rigging of games. But like 'Moggi-gate', it had also taken place just before a World Cup triumph.

Lucky Luciano then spent the rest of the Eighties moving between teams in Rome, Turin and Naples. The last named saw the drama - or rather farcical tragedy - of what Travaglio, Moggi's biographer, calls 'the Maradona-Moggi show'. Although Moggi had not brought the Argentinian star to Napoli, the two were close. But, as Maradona's off-the-pitch behaviour became increasingly erratic, their relationship deteriorated rapidly. Even Moggi's grip on the local press could not hide the star forward's cocaine consumption, nightclubbing and chronic unreliability. When two mafia supergrasses started talking about Maradona to judges, the scandal became too big to contain. For Moggi, Maradona had committed the cardinal sin, betraying his friendship and confidence. When the player failed a doping test, Moggi cut all links, left Naples and headed back north, fetching up, after a short and successful spell at Torino, as general manager across the city at Juventus.

Through the second half of the 1990s, the second part of the Moggi system was put in place. Lucky Luciano was cutting things fine - narrowly missing prosecution for allegedly providing referees with prostitutes and for false accounting - but his power continued to grow. Moggi became someone who was not just a good man to be friends with but someone whom you did not want to have as an enemy. Personally, acquaintances say, Moggi was less and less the garrulous diplomatic bon viveur and more and more the arrogant don. This was the flip side of the 'I'll help you out' Moggi. This was the 'I'm going to make you an offer you cannot refuse' Moggi. Again, though, Moggi relied on nothing so unsubtle as straight violence.

==========

So, on 18 October 2005, Baldas rang Moggi on his mobile.

Baldas: How are you? Well?

Moggi: Good.

Baldas: Listen Luciano, today we haven't got much ... there is ... [just] Rodomonti [the referee for a game between Cagliari-Milan over the weekend, later investigated but cleared by the tribunal]. Is it OK if we make him look bad? If you agree, of course ...

Moggi: Oh naturally.

Baldas: And then? And then? There's always Siena-Fiorentina ...

Moggi: But was there a penalty?

Baldas: Er ... bloody hell, yes, there was a penalty! ... And there Rosetti [a referee, also cleared by the inquiry]. You know the guy ... But if we show him, what are we going to do?

Moggi: No, no, leave him alone ... just drop the Siena game.

Baldas: OK ... if I need a favour will you do me a favour?

Moggi: No problem.

Baldas: You'll call me back soon?

Moggi: Yup, soon.

Baldas: Fine, bye.

There are dozens of such conversations. In fact, according to investigators, Moggi received or made an average of 416 calls per day. He had six mobile phones and 300 sim cards. In nine months, he made or received 100,000 calls.

So is this conversation with Baldas evidence of corruption? Is it match-fixing? Hard to say. Is it even wrong? It certainly smells bad. But it's not as if Baldas got much out of the arrangement. There is no evidence of cash changing hands. Baldas's motivation was much more subtle. The commentator was presented with an offer he could not refuse - in typical Moggi style.

What Baldas did receive in return was access to Juventus and a good source in Moggi - 'Moggi was always really useful, really helpful, always finding stuff out if you asked and calling you back,' said one sports journalist I spoke to in Rome. Also, of course, Moggi had friends everywhere, in the senior ranks of the football federation, in clubs, among players. Moggi's sports agency, GEA, looked after 200 players. It was run by his son, Alessandro, and employed the children of a dozen of the most powerful financiers and sports investors in Italy; the sons of Lazio president Sergio Cragnotti and of Italy coach Marcello Lippi, and Chiara Geronzi (the daughter of Cesare Geronzi, head of Capitalia, the banking group that finances Lazio) were all on staff. If Baldas or anyone else wanted GEA players on their programme, they required Moggi's assent. If Baldas, or anyone else, wanted a pass to Juventus's ground, they needed to be 'a friend'. Because of all the people Moggi was able to manipulate, Baldas was easily manipulated. That, to repeat, was how the Moggi system worked.

But sports journalists are hardly the key to throwing games. For that you need referees.

Here things are a little clearer - though not much. The following is not a conversation you would often hear, one hopes, between the general manager of a football club and the head of a national referees' association. It takes place a day after a Champions League third qualifying round game in Turin on 10 August 2004 in which an unfancied Swedish side, Djurgaarden, held Juventus to a 2 ...#8209;2 draw after the Italians had a goal disallowed. Moggi is talking to Pierluigi 'Gigi' Pairetto, head of the referees' association.

Moggi: Gigi, what fuck of a referee did you send us?

Pairetto: [Herbert] Fandel? He's number one, he's a top guy.

Moggi: Yes, whatever, but Miccoli's goal was valid.

Pairetto: No.

Moggi: It's valid, it's valid.

Pairetto: No, it was right in front [of the ref].

Moggi: What are you talking about ... it wasn't in front ... the entire game was an absolute disaster.

Pairetto: But you know he [i.e. Fandel] is one of the best guys.

Moggi: Well, I tell you, he can really fuck off. I have to make the return match in Stockholm secure no?

Pairetto: For fuck's sake ... mamma mia ... this [one] really has to be a proper game.

Moggi: No, we are going to win ... but with another [referee] like [Fandel] it's going to be a bit difficult no? You follow me?

Moggi then gives orders for the upcoming Juventus v Messina friendly, naming various referees and linesmen.

Moggi: For Messina, send me Consolo and Battaglia ... with Cassara eh? [None of these officials is suspected of any offence.]

Pairetto: Done already.

Moggi: And who did you send?

Pairetto: I think it's Consola and Battaglia. I've even sorted the friendly in Livorno. It's all fine.

Moggi: In Livorno, Rocchi [a referee who is eventually investigated but cleared] eh?

Pairetto: Yes, its Rocchi in Livorno.

Moggi: And [against Milan] ... it has to be Pieri.

Pairetto: We haven't done that yet.

Moggi: OK, we'll see to that later.

The referee at the Milan v Juve game on 28 August 2004 is Pieri and Juve win 1-0.

On 23 August, before the second leg of the Djurgaarden game, Moggi and Pairetto discuss the crucial European match (see panel on page 36). Pairetto assures Moggi that Juventus will win 4-1. And they do.

A week later Pairetto calls Moggi again, once more about the Champions League. Juventus were due to play their opening group game against Ajax in Amsterdam.

Moggi: Hello.

Pairetto: Hey, have you forgotten me? I always remember you!

Moggi: Oh come on

Pairetto: Hey, I've put in a great referee for the Amsterdam game.

Moggi: Who's that then?

Pairetto: It's Meier [Urs Meier, a Swiss referee].

Moggi: Well done!

Pairetto: I only called you to tell you that. See I remember you, even if you these days ...

Moggi: Oh, don't break my balls. You'll see that when I'm back you'll realise that I haven't forgotten you ...

On 15 September 2004 Juventus played Ajax in Amsterdam and won 1-0. The referee was indeed Urs Meier. He is now working as a pundit on German television, but has not been investigated and nor is he suspected of any offence. However, so far seven Italian referees and linesman have been banned as a result of the investigation. Piaretto and his deputy have both resigned. No one has proved that the referees have done anything criminally wrong and though it is clear from the transcripts that some were preferred by Moggi, presumably because they favoured Juventus, there is no evidence of cash exchanging hands. There is some evidence of the gift of a few tickets, a mobile phone, a short cut to the front of the lengthy waiting list for a Maserati, but nothing serious. Perhaps evidence of big cash gifts will emerge - criminal investigations are still going on - but perhaps it won't. Many think that there were no such gifts.

So why did the referees, who in Italy are relatively well paid professionals, and Pairetto do what they did?

'Because they had no real choice, because they were weak, because they were ambitious, because they were caught up in a corrupt system,' says one sports expert who did not want to be named.

'If they didn't favour Juventus they wouldn't get picked to referee big games. If they displeased Moggi, they might lose their jobs,' said biographer Travaglio.

It is true that one referee was locked in his changing room and threatened by Moggi, but that's relatively mild by local standards. It's not as if he woke up with a horse's head on his doorstep. Like Pairetto, who knew that Moggi was powerful enough to have him fired, the only possibility is that referees very much wanted to be Moggi's friend. And very much did not want to be his enemy.

Reading back through hundreds more pages of transcripts, the lines of the Moggi system start to become clearer. There are Moggi's attempts to influence the selection of opposing teams through his GEA agency, there is the occasion when, allegedly, Moggi tried to persuade a government minister to give the go-ahead to games that were set to be cancelled because of the imminent death of Pope John Paul II (Juventus were scheduled to play a Fiorentina side lacking two players suspended and two injured). There is nothing as crude as an exchange of cash, just friendship and favours. And when you have one man who has so much power, built up over so many years, through so many friendships and so many thousands of favours, from the very top levels of administration to the scouts in unknown provincial grounds, no one individual can resist. You are either inside - and safe and comfortable - or outside the system - which is a very lonely place to be.

Professor Andrea Manzella is a senior jurist and a senator in Romano Prodi's ruling coalition. His office overlooks the Piazza Navona, one of the most famous in Rome, with its 17th century church of St Agnes, Bernini fountains and tourist-trap cafes. The church was built on the site where, according to legend, St Agnes was stripped naked but miraculously saved from disgrace by extraordinary growth of hair.

When Manzella arrives, I ask him to explain how the Moggi system worked. 'It is a very Italian thing,' he says, exactly as Bondini had done. 'Here in Italy you have this atmosphere of continual compromise with the law. You don't break the law ... but you don't exactly stick to it either.' Manzella explains that Moggi's aim was not so much to rig matches, or gain immediate personal advantage, but create the most propitious environment for a team and thus success. 'What Moggi was doing was trying to stop something bad happening to something that was important to him and encourage something good happening to him. This is very Italian. And the more friends you have, the better you can do it.

'It's a cultural weakness. So much of Italian society is genuinely meritocratic, but there is also a widespread idea that to get on you need a little bit of extra help, however that is enacted and defined.'

Others have told me that the scandal could never have come out under the previous administration of Silvio Berlusconi, whose right-wing government was ousted by a left-wing coalition led by Romano Prodi in a close, bitterly contested election in April. It is not just that Berlusconi is owner and president of AC Milan, one of the clubs implicated in the scandal, but that the media magnate and former nightclub singer epitomises, for so many, the 'old way' of doing business in Italy. Prodi and his administration hope to use the investigation of Moggi and his system to show that a new integrity has entered Italian political and social life.

Shamed by relegation, Juventus now claim to be regulating themselves. The club, listed on the Italian stock exchange since 2001, have hired a London-based public relations firm to talk to the press. Their line is much as you would expect from a major corporation that has suffered a boardroom scandal. Their majority shareholders - effectively the Agnelli family, who own the car manufacturers Fiat - forced the resignation of all the senior directors and have put in a new administration. 'Juventus have turned over a new leaf,' said a spokesman, with stark unoriginality. 'They are saying something has to change in Italian football. The sentences are pretty draconian. Going down to Serie B means a hit of at least €50m a year.'

But if Juventus are admitting their faults, few others are. The affair spiralled rapidly beyond the Turin club, something that is not surprising given the all-pervasive, insidious nature of the Moggi system. As we know, three other clubs have been severely punished. According to the judges AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio did not benefit quite as substantially as Juventus but did profit from what was going on. The details of what they are alleged to have done remain sketchy but it appears that the three teams received favours from Moggi and his small army of compliant administrators and referees. There are several games that are suspected of being rigged - though all the three clubs deny wrongdoing and are standing by their top officials.

One afternoon, armed with two transcripts that are the basis for the charges against the president of Lazio, Claudio Lotito, I meet the club's lawyers in an office in Rome. The transcripts show Franco Carraro (the president of the Italian Football Federation) calling Pairetto (the head of the referees' association) in February this year, three weeks before Lazio played Chievo in a game that investigators believe was fixed. 'Listen,' Carraro says, 'we need to give Lazio a hand ...' Lotito then talks to the vice-president of the Federation and says: 'So you have spoken to Carraro ... that's good ... that means he is on my side.' Shortly afterwards Lotito is called by the vice-president of the football federation, a close associate of Moggi. 'We need to save ourselves however we can,' he says. 'They are going to arrest you.' A few days later Lazio play Parma. The referee, himself found guilty by the tribunal of corruption, controversially disallowed a Parma penalty; Lazio won 2-0.

Lazio's lawyers can explain all this. 'Lazio have done nothing wrong,' one says. The apparent request for help is actually a demand for more professional referees, he explains, and says that the mention of arrests is 'a joke'. Lotito's interlocutor is apparently a Tuscan and thus 'naturally effusive'.

Lazio are not the only ones to deny any wrong-doing. Moggi's lawyer proved evasive when I tried to contact him. However the lawyer for Antonio Giraudo, the former chief executive at Juventus, does speak. Giraudo has been forced to resign by Juventus, banned from the game and fined by the tribunal. His lawyer hopes to clear his name. 'It's not as if he was altering matches or creating a whole new world of football,' the lawyer says. 'There was no "system". It was just the dutiful acts of a loyal friend and colleague. It was all totally normal.'

So it's all normal. It's all business as usual in Serie A.

On 17 July, Moggi spoke to the newspaper La Repubblica in Follonica in his native Tuscany.

'How are you Mr Moggi? And are you going to return to the world of football?' the reporters asked. 'I'm very well,' Moggi replied. 'My sister said she has never seen me so relaxed ... Of course [I'll return to football] ... but this time I'm going to be the guy who breaks everybody's balls. I'll finger them all, by their first names and their surnames. I'll break the balls of all the false moralists of this world who think that everything is clean now because they got rid of ... Luciano Moggi.'

Marco Travaglio, for once, agrees with the subject of his best-selling biography. 'Throughout history, Italian football has been known as a world of bandits,' he said. 'Now that Moggi has been banned it won't be any cleaner ... and Moggi will leave scars too.'

As Moggi ponders his future this weekend he at least knows one thing for certain: Lucky Luciano is down, but he is far from being out.

Story of a scandal

2004
Italian police, investigating claims of organised doping of players, begin to tap the phones of leading officials.

February 2006
The police, having found evidence of match-fixing, show it to the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). April Silvio Berlusconi, president of AC Milan, is replaced as Italian Prime Minister by Romano Prodi after a close-fought election.

3 May
Italian papers publish transcripts of suspicious phone calls. Some involve Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and Pierluigi Pairetto, the official responsible for allocating referees and vice-president of Uefa's refereeing committee. Others involve Pairetto and referees.

9 May
FIGC president Franco Carraro resigns after it emerges they have taken no action on the transcripts since February. Moggi and the Juve board resign two days later. Massimo de Santis, the Italian referee due to take part in the World Cup, has to withdraw.

14 May
Juve retain the Serie A title.

24 May
Francesco Borrelli, head of the 'Clean Hands' probe into political corruption in the 1990s, is to lead the investigation . The only person not to co-operate is Lucian o Moggi .

3 June
A week before the World Cup starts, Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, a Juventus player, has to fly home to be questioned. 19 June Borrelli hands over the results of his interviews to the FIGC's prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi. Trading in Juve shares is suspended.

22 June
Fiorentina, Juventus, Lazio and Milan are to stand trial before a sporting tribunal.

27 June
Juventus's new sporting director, Gianluca Pessotto, is found seriously injured in the street outside the club's HQ after an apparent suicide bid.

4 July
Palazzi recommends that Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio be thrown out of Serie A, with Juventus relegated to at least Serie C and handed a six-point penalty.

9 July
Cannavaro lifts the World Cup after victory over France. On their return home, the players go to see Pessotto, a former Italy defender, who is recovering in hospital.

14 July
Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio are relegated, with Milan just deducted points. All punishments are subject to appeal.

The verdicts

Juventus

· Relegated to Serie B
· Start the new league season with minus 30 points
· Stripped of 2005 and 2006 league titles
· Out of 2006-07 Champions League
· Five-year ban for former general manager Luciano Moggi
· Five-year ban for ex-chief executive Antonio Giraudo

Fiorentina

· Relegated to Serie B
· Start the new league season with minus 12 points
· Out of 2006-07 Champions League
· President Andrea Della Valle banned for three years and six months
· Four-year ban for honorary president Diego Della Valle

Lazio

· Relegated to Serie B
· Start new league season with minus seven points
· Out of 2006-07 Uefa Cup
· Three-year ban for president Claudio Lotito

AC Milan

· Remain in Serie A but start season with minus 15 points
· Out of 2006-07 Champions League
· One-year ban for vice-president Adriano Galliani
· Club official Leonardo Meani banned for 42 months

(All verdicts subject to appeal)

Dramatis personae

Luciano Moggi
The former railway-station ticket-office manager from Tuscany began his career in football as a youth scout for Juventus in the early 1970s. He then worked in administration for Roma, Torino and Napoli before returning to Juve as general manager in 1994. The 69-year-old resigned from the club in May and has now been banned from the game for five years, with the possibility of a life ban, and fined €50,000.

Pierluigi Pairetto
A former referee who oversaw World Cup and European Championship matches in the Nineties, Pairetto progressed to become head of the Italian referees' association, in which role he allocated officials to Serie A matches. Until June, he was a vice-chairman of Uefa's referees committee and has since been reprimanded by the European football authority for his role in the Italian scandal.

Alessandro Moggi
Son of Luciano, the 33-year-old heads a player agency, GEA World, which he created in 2001 and is now said to represent more than half the players in Serie A, including almost all the Juventus squad. Initial reports claimed that his father had used this connection to pressure GEA players into underperforming against Juve. GEA is currently under investigation by magistrates for recruiting players by intimidation .

Fabio Baldas
A former referee who began his career in 1981 in Serie C, Baldas was promoted to the international ranks in 1991, officiating at the 1994 World Cup. Since retiring in 1998, Baldas was a pundit on Italy's longest running football programme, Il Processo (The Trial), analysing replays of controversial match incidents. He was caught speaking to Luciano Moggi about the tone of coverage on the show, and has since resigned.

Gianluigi Buffon
The Juventus goalkeeper comes from a sporting family as his mother was a discus thrower, his father a weightlifter and his two sisters volleyball players. He started his career at Parma in 1996 at the age of 17 and won his first cap for Italy at 19. In 2001 he signed for Juventus for a world-record fee for a keeper of £33m. In May 2006, he was accused of betting on Serie A matches while with Parma, though none involved his own club, and he submitted himself to questioning as part of the official investigation. Despite this, he was one of Italy's best players during their World Cup campaign, conceding just two goals in the finals - one was an own goal and the other a penalty. He is currently engaged to the former Miss Czech Republic, Alena Seredova.

Antonio Giraudo
Having worked for Juventus owners Giovanni and Umberto Agnelli as an executive at Fiat, Giraudo, 59, was brought in as the club's managing director in 1994. Juve made a profit for seven straight years under him. After featuring in the phone taps in conversation with Luciano Moggi, he, and the rest of the board, resigned on 11 May. He has been banned from football for five years and fined €20,000.

Franco Carraro
The president of the Italian Football Federation resigned on 8 May but remains a member of Uefa's executive committee. Carraro, 66, was European water-skiing champion three times in his early twenties. He became president of AC Milan at 27 and has also been Minister for Tourism and mayor of Rome. Carraro has been a member of the International Olympic Committee and presided over Italy's organisation of the 1990 World Cup.

==========

Juve claim FIGC damages

Italian giants Juventus are claiming massive damages from the Italian Football Federation over their demotion to Serie B.

The request is included in the appeal presented to the TAR Lazio civil court and amounts up to £92m, representing the economic loss allegedly suffered by the club because of its relegation.

The Turin outfit officially presented their Calciopoli appeal to the Lazio tribunal on Thursday which mainly consisted of two parts.

Juve asked for their immediate reinstatement to Serie A, eventually with the 17-point deduction which was handed out by the sporting justice system.

The Bianconeri also stated that they suffered major economic losses because of the scandal and believe they should be compensated by the FIGC who they deem responsible for the situation.

Juve quantified the damage of £50m if they were to play in this season’s Serie A and £92m if the Second Division were instead to be confirmed.

The main motivation of the appeal was the belief that the sanctions were unjustified and unfair when compared with those given to the other guilty clubs, as confirmed by Juventus chief Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

FIGC and CONI [the Italian Olympic Committee] are now ready to reply with their claim for damages, considering the Bianconeri responsible for undermining the credibility of the Italian Championship, as well as sport in general.

An extra hearing may be scheduled by the TAR Lazio on August 31, to specifically discuss Juve’s case.

The new season is set to kick-off on September 9 and both the FIGC and the Lega Calcio have guaranteed that there will be no further delays.

Friday 25 August
Gazzetta dello Sport
Have you heard the latest? Juventus have asked for damages
Ronaldo is too expensive: Galliani goes to get Oliveira

Corriere dello Sport
Oliveira or Ronaldo, then Ronaldinho in 2007
Juve ask for 130 million!
Inter, here’s Bayern
It’s downhill for Milan and Roma

Tuttosport
Juve-FIGC: It’s war
‘If you don’t give us back Serie A, we want 130 million in damages’
Toro - now sign Iaquinta

==========

"We're disgusted". This is the only comment from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) after JuBe's appeal to TAR. They are now considering legal action to ask JuBe to pay compensation for damaging the image of sport, and football in particular.

JuBe's request for up to 130 millions could actually send FIGC bankrupt.

If you read JuBe's 50 pages appeal, you'd think nothing has ever happened. There is no mentioning of why the Federation opened an enquiry about Juventus, Moggi and Giraudo.
Telephone conversations, investigations, two separate official enquiries from the Italian Justice Department, the work of the Federation's legal office: all gone.

All they talk about is sanctions, which are described as "out of proportion". You must keep in mind that when sanctions were given, the Federation kept into consideration JuBe's attitude which seemed to be one of awareness of the situation, and one of change. All accusations had been proven, and by 15 September proceedings will start in civilian courts for sporting defraud.

From JuBe's appeal it emerges almost a defence of Moggi's and Giraudo's cases. There's an attempt to justify their actions which led to a 5 year ban with possible permanent ban. JuBe are asking for compensation from the FIGC following damage to their public image. Basically they're saying that it's not Moggi and Giraudo who caused damage to Italian football's image, it was the sanctions from FIGC against them.

JuBe also talk about appealing to the European Court, advised by Dupont, quoting the "Mecca sentence" as precedent. A sentence that they should read carefully: Mecca (a swimmer) was found guilty and asked to pay legal fees, plus his two years ban was confirmed. Actually a case that Dupont lost, and that only recalls the fact that sanctions should be in proportion to the offence.

JuBe base most of their case on the unfairness of the "damage to their investors", as they are quoted on the stock market. If this was accepted, it would create a precedent where companies would be allowed to commit illegal actions in order to protect their investors.

Unfortunately for JuBe, the introductory publication created when they were quoted on the stock market contains a clear warning about the danger of investing considering rules of football that can not be violated.