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Italian football has been rocked by a major scandal centred on top club Juventus with allegations of match fixing. Juventus, about to win the Serie A title, could be relegated to Serie B. The headquarters of the Italian Football Federation have been raided by police. Documents have also been seized at the headquarters of the Italian referees' federation. These developments come at a time when there is widespread disllusionment among fans with one of the top leagues in the world with overall attendances falling by a million this season.
At the centre of the scandal is the general manager of Juventus, Luciano Moggi, who is allegedly heard on a phone tap asking a federation official, 'Who the hell was that ref you sent us?' He goes on to demand certain match officials for future matches. The chief executive officer of the Turin club, Antonio Girauldi, is also under investigation for accounting fraud and four players, including Italy's goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, are being investigated for alleged involvement in illegal betting on matches. A total of nine clubs, including Lazio and AC Milan (owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi) and 58 men and women have been named in the investigations.
Investigators are looking closely at 19 matches in the 2004-5 season, 12 of them involving Juve, to see whether there were any irregularities in refereeing decisions. Investigators are thought to believe that Signor Moggi commanded a group of officials who were were willing to help Juve by a judicious use of the yellow card. One approach, investigators suspect, was for referees to keep booking important players from teams that Juve were due to play, so that match bans would kick in when the Juve match came around. Moggi had frequent conversations with the head of the Italian referees, Pierluigi Pairetto, whose job it was to name specific officials for matches. Transcripts of the conversations reveal that Moggi lobbied for certain officials and vetoed those not to his liking. One wiretap between Signor Pairetto and referee Paolo Dondarini ends with the latter being told just before taking charge of a Juve match, 'You know what you have to do. Make sure you see everything. Even that which isn't there.'
The chief executive and his deputy at the Italian Football Federation have resigned as a result of the allegations. On Thursday the Juventus board resigned under pressure from the majority shareholders, the Agnelli family, who have been embarrassed by the affair. Juve shares have sunk by over 14 per cent.
Another branch of the investigation concerns a football agency, GEA World, run by Signor Moggi's son, Alessandro. This company represents about 200 professional footballers and managers in Italy. It is alleged that Signor Moggi Snr used it to move players between clubs, influence matches and act as the de facto power broker of the Italian game. He and his son are now accused of racketeering and intimidation. When the late Gianni Agnelli was asked about the hiring of Signor Moggi in the mid-1990s he remarked, 'Sometimes it is a good thing if your stablemaster knows who the horse thieves are. And I think [Moggi] knows them all.' Unfortunately, these events reflect a deeper corruption that is endemic in Italian society and politics.
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