The 2006 Italian football scandal (Italian: Calciopoli, Farsopoli or Moggiopoli , sometimes referred to as Calciocaos[1]) involved Italy's top professional football leagues, Serie A and Serie B. The scandal was uncovered in May 2006 by Italian police, implicating league champions Juventus, and other major teams including Internazionale Milan (though no allegations were proven to be true), Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina when a number of telephone interceptions showed a thick network of relations between team managers and referee organisations. Juventus were the champions of Serie A at the time. The teams have been accused of rigging games by selecting favourable referees.
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The scandal first came to light as a consequence of investigations of Naples prosecutors on the Italian football agency GEA World. Transcripts of recorded telephone conversations published in Italian newspapers suggested that during the 2004-05 season, Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi had conversations with several officials of Italian football to influence referee appointment. The name Calciopoli is a pun on Tangentopoli, [rough English translation:Bribesville], a corruption-based attitude starting in the early 80s and ending with the Mani Pulite investigation in the early 90s. Another very common name for Calciopoli is Moggiopoli after the name of Luciano Moggi. Also Calciogate, a pun on Watergate, is used. "Calcio" means football in Italian.
On 4 July 2006, the Italian Football Federation's prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, called for all four clubs at the centre of the match-fixing scandal to be thrown out of Serie A. Palazzi called for Juventus to drop to at least Serie C1 (his statement read that Juventus should be sent "lower than Serie B", without a specific division stated) and for Fiorentina and Lazio to at least Serie B. He also asked for points penalties to be imposed (6 for Juventus, 3 for Milan, and 15 for both Fiorentina and Lazio). The prosecutor also called for Juventus to be stripped of its 2005 and 2006 titles.[2]
In the case against Reggina on 13 August, the prosecutor called for Reggina to be demoted to Serie B with a 15-point penalty.[3] On 17 August Reggina's punishment was handed down: a 15-point penalty, but no relegation from Serie A.[4] Furthermore the club was fined the equivalent of £68,000, whilst the club president Pasquale "Lillo" Foti was fined £20,000 and banned from the game for 2½ years [5].
| Team | Relegation | Points deductions (2006-07 season) |
Other punishments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original punishment [4][6] | Appeal result | Final punishment [7] | Original punishment | Appeal result | Final punishment | Original punishment | Final punishment | |
| Milan | Relegated to Serie B | None | None | Deducted 15 points | Deducted 8 points | Deducted 8 points | • Deducted 44 points 2005/06 season • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League [8] |
• Deducted 30 points 2005/06 season • One home game behind closed doors |
| Fiorentina | Relegated to Serie B | None | None | Deducted 12 points (Serie B) |
Deducted 19 points (Serie A) |
Deducted 15 points (Serie A) |
• Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League [8] | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League [8] • Two home games behind closed doors |
| Juventus | Relegated to Serie C1 | Relegated to Serie B | Relegated to Serie B | Deducted 30 points | Deducted 17 points | Deducted 9 points | • £31,000,000 (equivalent) fine • Club president fined £200,000 (equivalent) |
• Stripped of 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Champions League [8] • Three home games behind closed doors |
| Lazio | Relegated to Serie B | None | None | Deducted 7 points (Serie B) | Deducted 11 points (Serie A) | Deducted 3 points (Serie A) | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Cup [8] | • Out of 2006-07 UEFA Cup [8] • Two home games behind closed doors |
| Reggina [5] | (No original punishment) | None | None | Deducted 15 points | (No appeal result) | Deducted 11 points | (No original punishment) | • £68,000 (equivalent) fine • Club president Pasquale Foti fined £20,000 (equivalent) and banned from football for 2½ years |
The sentence was long disputed because of the largely different severity of punishment between Juventus and other involved teams. According to the court the conduct of team managers, considered in all the cases not a real match-fixing but a mere violation of sport loyalty principles, seemed to have, in case of Juventus, the effect to influence match results; whilst in the case of other teams the same effect was not considered so much evident. Juventus representatives considered this assumption totally arbitrary and never proved.
In Italy, like most national football leagues, clubs earn 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The club with the most points at the end of the season is the league champion, while the last few teams (the number depending on the league rules) are relegated to a lower division - in Serie A's case, the last three teams.
The clubs sent down to Serie B were initially slated to have a difficult road back to the top flight. They would have had to finish in the top two of Serie B to be assured of promotion, but at the same time had to avoid finishing in the bottom four to keep from being relegated to Serie C1. Juventus, for example, was initially docked 30 points—the equivalent of having 10 wins nullified. This made it very likely that they would not return to Serie A until 2008 at the earliest. However, the point penalty was reduced to nine points, giving Juve a fighting chance at promotion. They won the Serie B championship in 2006-07 season, having clinched a spot in Serie A by May 2007.
The three clubs who remained in Serie A also were slated to have a difficult 2006-2007 season, especially Fiorentina, who were docked 15 points. With this large deduction, it was thought likely that Fiorentina would fail to finish high enough in Serie A to achieve a place in European competitions for the 2007-2008 season, and there was an outside chance that it would finish in the bottom three and be relegated to Serie B. However, Fiorentina finished the 2006-07 season in sixth place, giving them a place in the 2007-2008 UEFA Cup.
The relegation of Juventus also prompted a mass exodus of many important players such as Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Zlatan Ibrahimović. Some 30 other players who participated at the 2006 FIFA World Cup were also affected and many opted to move to the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and other leagues.
Initially, with Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio all relegated, Messina, Lecce and Treviso would have remained in Serie A, despite occupying the bottom three places in the 2005-06 season. After the appeals, only Messina remained in Serie A. Teams promoted from Serie B (Atalanta, Catania and Torino) were unaffected and promoted to Serie A as normal.
Based on their final league positions, Juventus and Milan would have earned a direct entry into the UEFA Champions League, Internazionale and Fiorentina would have entered the third qualifying round of the Champions League, and Roma, Lazio, and Chievo would have been eligible for the UEFA Cup. The list of Italian participants in next season's competitions was due to be given to UEFA by 5 June.[9] On June 6, 2006, the FIGC officially withdrew from the 2006 Intertoto Cup, costing Palermo a place in the third round of the competition, citing the fact that the 2005-06 Serie A standings could not be confirmed by the 5 June deadline.
UEFA gave FIGC a July 25, 2006 deadline to confirm the standings or face sanctions in the two larger European competitions (then extended to July 26). After the appeals, Inter, Roma, Chievo and AC Milan occupied Italy's four Champions League places for 2006-07. Inter and Roma received a direct entry into the Champions League, while Chievo and Milan started at the third qualifying round (Milan's entry was confirmed by UEFA shortly after the appeals process). Palermo, Livorno and Parma took the UEFA Cup first round slots originally going to Roma, Lazio, and Chievo.[7]
On July 26, FIGC declared Internazionale as the Italian Champion for the 2005-06 season.[10]
Juventus originally announced that they planned to appeal the punishment to the Italian civil courts, an action that would have brought further punishment to the clubs and the FIGC by FIFA. FIFA has historically taken a dim view to government involvement in football administration. Earlier in 2006, FIFA briefly suspended the Hellenic Football Federation due to draft Greek legislation that would have allowed for government supervision of football. FIFA announced that it had the option to suspend the FIGC—thus barring all Italian clubs from international play—if Juventus went to court [11]. The hearing was scheduled for September 1. However, Juventus dropped its appeal before the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR in Italian) on August 31, the day before it was to be heard. Juve officials cited the "willingness shown by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) to review its case during (CONI's) arbitration".[12]
On 26 October 2006, the second appeal resulted in Milan continuing to be deducted 8 points, while Lazio's penalty was reduced to 3 points, Juventus' reduced to 9 points and Fiorentina's reduced to 15 points.
Massimo De Santis was to be Italy's referee representative in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but was barred by the Italian Football Federation after coming under investigation.[13] Italian referee Roberto Rosetti remained untainted by the scandal, and he was one of the 21 2006 FIFA World Cup officials.
The eruption of the scandal has also drawn attention to many potential conflicts of interest within Italian football. Adriano Galliani, the vice president and CEO of A.C. Milan, also serves as the president of Serie A.
In addition to allegations of corruption and sports fraud by owners, managers, players, referees, and league officials, "the host of Italy's most popular football show, Aldo Biscardi, has resigned amid allegations that he collaborated with Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi to boost the club's image on television".[14]
In all, magistrates in Naples formally investigated 41 people and looked into 19 Serie A matches from the 2004-05 season and 14 Serie A matches from the 2005-06 season. Prosecutors in Turin examined Juventus chairman Antonio Giraudo over transfers, suspected falsified accounts, and tax evasion. Prosecutors in Parma still are investigating national team goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Enzo Maresca, Antonio Chimenti and Mark Iuliano (retired) for suspected gambling on Serie A matches.[15]
After the first penalties were handed out, more teams are being looked at for possible links to the scandal. Charges were laid against Reggina and a 15-point penalty handed down[4]. Messina, Lecce and Siena are also being investigated as prosecutors continue to analyse transcripts of telephone calls.[16]
Franco Carraro resigned from the presidency of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the body responsible for selecting Italy's FIFA World Cup national team, on 8 May. Juventus' entire board of directors resigned on 11 May, Moggi resigned shortly after Juventus won the 2006 Serie A championship on 14 May. On the Borsa Italiana, Italy's stock market, Juventus shares had lost about half their 9 May value as of 19 May.[17]
The following punishments were given to individuals [6]:
Since the trial, some further controversy has emerged especially among the Juventus fanbase. This is due to perceived bias in favour of Internazionale who were the main beneficiary from the 2006 Serie A scandal; they were awarded as champions as the outcome although they only finished 3rd and they have also brought in top players; Patrick Vieira (now at Manchester City) and Zlatan Ibrahimović (now at Barcelona) from Juventus since the club's relegation.
In September 2006 Italian football was shaken again by a new investigation. The head of the security department of Telecom Italia (Italy's biggest fixed network operator company) was arrested for having organised a trade of interceptions to public personalities' private calls. Internazionale was involved in the process from the beginning when Carlo Buora, Chief Operating Officer of Telecom Italia and vice-president of Inter, being the boss of Tavaroli, was accused of being involved. During questioning, Tavaroli admitted that the president of Inter (Massimo Moratti) was one of the customers of this trade, having requested interceptions of many football personalities among referees, footballers and officers[18][19].
Inter was not involved in Calciopoli scandal, though Paolo Bergamo (the embattled and discredited referee-appointing official) claimed, during questioning, that all major teams had the same level of relations with him. In press interviews, he went so far as wondering why not all the relevant calls that he received from team managers went out during the investigation [20] claiming that other teams, including Inter, should have been punished too.[21]
The Italian Football Federation (now under the lead of Luca Pancalli) started an enquiry into these allegations. It is unlikely that Inter will be sanctioned since Inter's alleged conduct dates back to 2002 and in Italy, under the Sporting Justice Code of FIGC, the statute of limitations runs out after two seasons.
The false account in Italy known as Doping Amministrativo, which means director of the football club use cross-trading (or player exchange) with inflated price in order to enhance the financial gains to avoid re-capitalization. But it is because the company's income actually not increased (the figure did increase), it look like using enhancement drug.
In October 2007, A.S. Roma was fined €40,000 for administrative offenses related to the sale of young players but acquitted the false accounting related to the possible wrong entry day of the gain from selling Nakata.[22] Lazio acquitted.
In June 2008, 7 Serie A clubs (some clubs by-then as Serie B) were fined for false accounting by inflating the prices of players they bought and sold, in order to pass financial tests in 2003-04, 2004-05 season.[23] and 2005-06 season. In June 2010 Palermo president and serveal staff of Ternana were also fined and banned from football.
The following punishments were given to individuals:
In April 2007 the Italian daily La Repubblica disclosed some new details about the Calciopoli affair. Naples prosecutors were able to find out a series of telephone calls, through foreign SIM cards between Moggi, Bergamo, Pairetto and several referees. Since the conversations were through foreign SIM cards, the Italian police could not tap them: they could only try to match together phone numbers, numbers called and places. The SIM cards had been purchased in a store in Chiasso (Switzerland). Some SIM cards were Swiss and registered to the store owner's family, the others came from an anonymous person in Liechtenstein. The prosecutors also discovered the use of a Slovenian SIM card. In this investigation they involved Moggi, Pairetto, Bergamo, Fabiani (Messina sporting director), the referees De Santis, Racalbuto, Paparesta, Pieri, Cassarà, Dattilo, Bertini, Gabriele and the assistant Ambrosino. According to this investigation, Paparesta also used the Swiss SIM card for personal use, and this helped the prosecutors to discover this secret communication channel. Apparently, Moggi had five foreign SIM cards, two of which had been used to communicate with Bergamo and Pairetto, whereas the others had been used to communicate with the referees and Fabiani.[30]
Investigating the SIM cards, the prosecutors discovered some worrying details. During the 24 hours preceding the match Juventus-Milan, one of the most important matches of that championship, played on 18 December 2004, they discovered a series of 13 telephone calls between Moggi and Bertini, the referee of that match. They also discovered a series of 18 telephone calls between Bertini and Fabiani and another 11 between Fabiani and Moggi. According to the prosecutors, Fabiani would be the "instigator", the intermediary between Moggi and the referees. The match finally resulted in a goalless draw and all the press severely criticized Bertini for not allowing two clear penalties to Milan and for a perceived clemence with regard to Juventus.[31]
Moreover, another wiretapping was recently unveiled by the Italian daily La Stampa. Although containing nothing truly compromising, in the recording Moggi and Marcello Lippi (former coach of Juventus and coach of the Italian national team at the time) clearly insult Internazionale's president (Massimo Moratti) and trainer (Roberto Mancini). Lippi states that Mancini deserves a lesson, and Moggi answers that Mancini will have such a lesson.[32]
On 26 April 2007 La Repubblica's web site published about two hundred audio files of the wiretappings, some published one year before in the written form and some never published. This allows readers to perceive tones and forms of the conversations as well.[33]
Milan, originally ejected from the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League due to the scandal, went on to win the competition on 23 May 2007.
On 17 June 2007 on the Italian show Qui Studio A Voi Stadio, a popular football show broadcast by the local TV Telelombardia based in Milan, Bergamo admitted that Moggi actually gave two Swiss SIM cards to Pairetto, and Pairetto gave one of those SIM cards to him. Bergamo stated that, on suspicion of being tapped, he used that SIM card only to communicate with Pairetto and that, after the exhaustion of the credit, he did not use the SIM card anymore.
In June 2008, Juventus fined again for €300,000 in 3 installments. Messina fined for €60,000.[34][35]
During the Calciopoli still in progress trial in Naples, the legal team of Luciano Moggi released a number of wiretapping showing that AC Milan and Inter might have been involved too in the Serie A scandal during 2004 and 2005. Such wiretappings were involving AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani, Inter owner Massimo Moratti, then-Inter chairman Giacinto Facchetti and former referee designators Paolo Bergamo and Pierluigi Pairetto.
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