BBC



Cant believe this(well actually maybe i can..lol).Poor showing in Europe aswell from the italians,their defiantly the 3rd best league after England and Spain now,shame..

Match-fixing probe rocks Serie A

'Prosecutors are investigating top clubs, referees and officials for suspected match-fixing in the biggest scandal to hit Italy since the 1980s.
Two senior officials of Juventus, Italy's most successful club, are among 41 people under formal investigation.

Six-times European champions AC Milan as well as Lazio feature in the probe of 19 league games from last season.

In Rome, police searched the soccer federation's offices and those of the referees' association.

Referee Massimo De Santis, who will take part in next month's World Cup in Germany, is being investigated in the probe.

The crisis led incoming Prime Minister Romano Prodi to suggest that a political 'commisar' be put in charge of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

Franco Carraro resigned as FIGC president on Monday and is also under investigation by Naples magistrates.

Carraro responded to reports earlier this week that he was under investigation by saying: "I am absolutely calm because I know I have always acted correctly.

"Over the years I have featured in many investigations from magistrates and I have always been cleared or acquitted."

The worlds of business and politics are closely linked to Italian football - former prime minister Berlusconi is owner of AC Milan while the powerful Fiat-owning Agnelli family effectively control Juventus through a holding company.

MATCH-FIXING PROBE MUSHROOMS
May 4: Intercepted phone conversations between Juve's Luciano Moggi and Pierluigi Pairetto, a former member of the federation's refereeing commission, published
May 8: Italian Football federation president Franco Carraro resigns
May 11: Federation vice-president Innocenzo Mazzini resigns
May 11: Entire Juventus board resigns

Leading Italian businessman Diego Dalle Valle, owner of the luxury goods firm Tod's and honorary president of Florence club Fiorentina, was also named on Friday along with his brother Andrea.

Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and CEO Antonio Giraudo are at the centre of the scandal which was triggered by the publication of telephone taps of them discussing refereeing appointments with senior federation officials.

On Thursday, the board of directors of Juventus resigned en masse ahead of a shareholders' meeting on 29 June.

Turin magistrates have put Giraudo under investigation for possible false accounting relating to transfer dealings.

Magistrates in Rome are examining the operation of the GEA management company, which controls almost 200 players and coaches and is headed by Moggi's son Alessandro.

Juventus are strong favourites to win their 29th Italian title on Sunday's final day of the season, although the status of last season's win now depends on the outcome of the investigations.

If Juventus were to be found guilty of "sporting fraud", they could be stripped of their title win and face demotion to the second tier Serie B.

In the last major scandal to hit Italian football, AC Milan and Lazio were demoted to Serie B in 1980 following a match-fixing and illegal gambling investigation.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4765173.stm

the belgium football has faced the same problems, a Chinese bussiness man (maffia probably) is at the centre of the affair


Don't try this at home lads
"The enemy dies relaxed," observed a Lockheed Martin manager.

Soccer: Lippi's son probed
Federation insists Azzurri coach not at risk



(ANSA) - Rome, May 26 - Prosecutors here officially put Italy coach Marcello Lippi's son under investigation Friday in the latest chapter of a spiralling soccer-corruption probe. Rome magistrates are examining allegations that Davide Lippi's activities for the GEA World footballers' agency made him part of a "criminal organization" .

GEA is suspected of being one of the 'tools' through which former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi controlled the Italian soccer world to favour the Turin club's fortunes .

Press reports of wiretaps of Moggi's telephone conversations in recent weeks have shocked the nation as they seem to reveal a widespread network of corruption in Serie A .

GEA, which represents over 200 soccer professionals, is run by Moggi's son Alessandro, who is under investigation, along with his father. Magistrates are also probing five others as part of the GEA probe, including Giuseppe De Mita, the son of former Italian premier Ciriaco De Mita. Prosecutors suspect they may have used "threats and violence" when conducting business and abused a "dominant position" in the market .

The Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) stressed that Marcello Lippi's position as Azzurri boss was not under threat .

"This news will not lead to any changes for the national team," said FIGC Vice President Giancarlo Abete .

Earlier in the week Marcello Lippi, who is preparing Italy for the upcoming World Cup at the Azzurri's headquarters near Florence, insisted he knew nothing about his son's work for GEA .

He also denied allegations that Luciano Moggi, with whom he worked when he was Juve boss, pressured him to select GEA players for the national team. But consumers' association Codacons called on Friday for Marcello Lippi and Azzurri goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon - who is being probed on suspicions of illegal betting - to be dismissed from the Italy camp. Codacons said it will support fans legal action as civil plaintiff (friend of the court) in any trials resulting from the probes. Prosecutors in a number of Italian cities are investigating different aspects of the scandal .

Among the alleged crimes are sporting fraud, doping and false accounting. As a result of the scandal Italian soccer has been put in the hands of an emergency commissioner, Guido Rossi, after all of FIGC's top brass quit .

On Friday Palermo Chairman Maurizio Zamparini resigned as Vice President of the Italian Soccer League and said that he "hoped others would follow my example" .

That statement will be interpreted as a call for League President Adriano Galliani, who is also AC Milan vice president, to step down. Many commentators have said Galliani should quit as League chief in order to help give the tainted game here a fresh start .

Galliani has refused, insisting he has done nothing wrong .



© Copyright ANSA. All rights reserved