Friday, 13 April 2007

Calciopoli II to hit Juve?

Juventus could reportedly face more penalties for their part in the Calciopoli scandal after public prosecutors in Naples wrapped up their investigation.

The Italian giants were stripped of their last two League titles and thrown into Serie B with a nine-point penalty, but Bianconeri fans are fearing another summer on trial.

Prosecutors in Naples have finally closed their match-fixing probe after almost a year and have named 48 people who they suspect of wrongdoing, a standard step before possible criminal charges are issued.

It is now expected that their findings will be passed on to Saverio Borrelli, the head of the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) investigative team, who may opt to open a new sporting trial as a result.

It’s understood that a total of 39 games from the 2004-05 campaign are among a list of incriminated ties, 15 of which were not previously made known by the Naples investigation.

Among the fresh games under suspicion is a Juventus-Milan tie which ended 0-0 in Turin from the season in question.

The scandal erupted last May when a number of intercepted telephone calls between leading figures of the Italian game and referees raised doubts over the legitimacy of the '04-05 championship.

Former Juventus general director Luciano Moggi was placed at the centre of the scandal after being accused of setting up a network in an attempt to influence the outcome of matches.

"The contacts took place via phone calls, thanks to secret sim cards that were provided by Moggi to designators Paolo Bergamo and Pier Luigi Pairetto, to Messina’s sporting director Mariano Fabiani, to referees Gianluca Paparesta, Salvatore Racalbuto, Stefano Cassara, Antonio Dattilo, Paolo Bertini, Marco Gabriele, Tiziano Pieri, Massimo De Santis and Marcello Ambrosino," read a statement released by the Naples prosecutors.

As a result of their findings, the match officials and Sicilian club Messina – who have protested their innocence – could also be facing a sporting tribunal.

Messina chief Pietro Franza said: "We have always operated in absolute legal transparency. [Former sporting director] Mariano Fabiani will be cleared in a short time."

With regards to Juventus, it has been claimed that they may be asked to face more FIGC charges depending on what Borrelli finds in the reports.

But the Turin giants are remaining calm about the situation. "Until we have something concrete in our possession then it is not right to say anything," said club lawyer Luigi Chiappero.

However, President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli quickly shot down claims that his outfit may face further penalisation for either this season or next. "We have to make it clear that Calciopoli didn’t start with Juventus," he argued. "We’ve already paid the price for it, perhaps too much.

"After all, the decision to take away the 2006 Scudetto from us and hand it to Inter is still incomprehensible today."

Lazio, Milan, Reggina, Fiorentina and Arezzo were the other clubs punished by the FIGC for their part in Calciopoli, as well as numerous club, FIGC and refereeing officials.

Only one referee, Massimo De Santis, was found guilty of misconduct in the sporting courts.

These are the 15 new games under investigation: Udinese-Brescia 1-2 (26-09-2004), Siena-Juventus 0-3 (23-10-2004), Juventus-Chievo 3-0 (31-10-2004), Messina-Reggina 2-1 (31-10-2004), Messina-Fiorentina 1-1 (28-11-2004), Juventus-Milan 0-0 (18-12-2004), Roma-Parma 5-1 (19-12-2004), Brescia-Bologna 1-1 (06-01-2005), Cagliari-Juventus 1-1 (16-01-2005), Messina-Parma 1-0 (23-01-2005), Sampdoria-Siena 1-1 (30-01-2005), Siena-Messina 2-2 (13-02-2005), Palermo-Lecce 3-3 (20-02-2005), Reggina-Messina 0-2 (13-03-2005) & Lazio-Juventus 0-1 (24-04-2005).

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