Scandal Rocks Italian Soccer, and U.S. Waits
If the United States makes it through the first round of the World Cup in Germany next month, Coach Bruce Arena might want to consider sending a note of thanks to Turin, Italy.
There, once-proud Juventus is the black-and-white-striped spider at the center of a web of corruption, match-fixing, gambling and referee-bribing that has rocked Italian soccer over the last couple of weeks.
Forty-one people and four leading clubs -- Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina -- are under investigation and the numbers are likely to grow.
The scandal’s ugly stain spreads every day and threatens to undermine Italy’s World Cup roster, which Coach Marcelllo Lippi will announce today.
The U.S. plays Italy on June 17 in Kaiserslautern.
The developments have come thick and fast in the last week.
* Last Monday, no doubt tipped off by the black storm clouds building on the horizon, Franco Carraro resigned as chairman of Italy’s soccer federation, the FIGC. Innocenzo Mazzini, the federation’s vice president, resigned three days later.
As early as March, Carraro and the FIGC had been given copies of a 272-page document produced by public prosecutors in Turin that included transcripts of telephone taps purportedly showing how the assignment of referees had been heavily influenced by Juventus and especially by its general manager, Luciano Moggi.
Moggi dismissed the allegations as “a load of rubbish” and the FIGC did not pursue the matter.
* On Wednesday, Turin investigators said that Juventus’ chief executive, Antonio Giraudo, was being investigated for false accounting in players’ transfer deals.
Public prosecutors in Rome and Naples began investigations into the growing scandal.
* On Thursday, the board of directors of Juventus, including Moggi and Giraudo, stepped down. The club issued a statement saying only that “the board has tendered its resignation” and offered no explanation.
* On Friday, police in Rome raided the FIGC headquarters and the newspaper La Republica reported that at least 18 games from the 2004-2005 season were being investigated for alleged match-fixing. Another newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport, said 29 rounds of the 38-round season were being examined.
In addition, it was revealed in Parma that a probe was underway into suspected illegal gambling involving four unidentified Juventus players.
Lippi, who twice served as Juventus coach while Moggi was on the team’s board, denied that Moggi had tried to influence the choice of World Cup players. “The selection of the national team takes place under the eyes of everyone,” Lippi said.
In Rome, investigators were looking into the affairs of the GEA World management company, which handles almost 200 players and coaches and is headed by Moggi’s son, Alessandro. Lippi’s son, Davide, also works for GEA World.
In Naples, prosecutors said they were seeking evidence of “criminal association” and “sporting fraud” and that World Cup referee Massimo De Santis was part of their investigation.
Italy’s incoming prime minister, Romano Prodi, suggested that a political “commisar” be put in charge of the FIGC.
* On Saturday, the FIGC withdrew De Santis as a World Cup referee, along with his assistant referees Alessandro Griselli and Marco Ivaldi. All three are under investigation. FIFA said De Santis would not be replaced.
In addition, Gianluigi Buffon, the Juventus and Italy national team goalkeeper who is expected to start at the World Cup, was questioned in Turin over his gambling on soccer matches.
“Buffon explained to the magistrates that he had bet on foreign football and other games before the autumn of 2005,” his attorney told reporters, adding that Buffon had not wagered on any soccer games since a ban against such gambling was put in place.
Also, the Italian stock market regulators asked whether evidence of wrongdoing existed that would cause it to suspend the trading of shares in Juventus and Lazio.
* On Sunday, Juventus won the Italian Serie A title for the second year in a row and for the 29th time overall.
Afterward, Moggi said he had resigned, effective today, to defend himself against “all the malice that has been said about me.”
“From this evening, the world of football is no longer my world,” he said.
If it is found guilty of “sporting fraud,” Juventus could be demoted to Serie B, a move that could cost it more than $150 million in sponsorship and television income.
Reaction to the scandal has come from every quarter, even the Vatican.
The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, said Sunday that the entire mess is “an offense to sports and its values. The earthquake which is turning the world of soccer upside down is an offense to the joy of childhood.”
Italy’s outgoing prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who owns AC Milan, one of the teams under investigation, said Milan should be awarded the 2005 and 2006 championship titles. AC Milan finished second behind Juventus in both seasons.
“We demand they give us back the two league titles that are our due,” he told the ANSA news agency. “We are tired of suffering injustice.”
Inter Milan, which finished third this season, also was irate.
“It is difficult to make an evaluation when you play in fixed championships, in fact it is impossible,” Inter Coach Roberto Mancini told ANSA. “It is a very serious matter. The most serious ever heard in the history of world football.
“I am horrified. I didn’t think you could have a thing such as this.”
Said former AC Milan and Italy national team standout Gianni Rivera: “Football has got too fat in recent years. It’s time it saw a doctor to watch out it doesn’t get a heart attack.”
Francesco Totti, the AS Roma star who likely will be on Lippi’s World Cup roster today, was less dramatic but no less clear.
“There needs to be a total cleanup, to clear out what’s bad,” Totti said.
Given the unfolding events, it is impossible not to agree.
Meanwhile, Arena can only smile. Things look better and better for June 17.
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World Cup facts
Germany is the 2006 World Cup host. The United States is in Group E along with Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic. The U.S.’s first-round pool play schedule:
* June 12: U.S. vs. Czech Republic, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
* June 17: U.S. vs. Italy, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
* June 22: U.S. vs. Ghana, Nuremberg, Germany.
* U.S. in World Cup: This is the fifth consecutive time the National Team has qualified for the World Cup, after earlier appearances in 1930, 1934, and 1950.
* U.S. roster: The roster has 11 MLS players and 12 foreign-based players, the same numbers as the 2002 World Cup roster. The foreign-based players play in England (7), Germany (2), the Netherlands (2) and Belgium (1).
* World Cup experience: Eleven players have been in previous World Cups (51 total games). Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Pope, Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride have the most World Cup games played, with seven each.
