The Italian Scandal

Italian soccer has had more than it’s share of controversy the last few years. It should be no surprise that yet again another controversial matter has been getting a lot of press. Many were blind sided by this one. Although the more cynical fans would point to it and say it’s always been there given the calls that Juve (or Milan or another club) seem to get when they need to win the league. The latest controversy is not about expanding the number of teams to 20. The tempest hitting the sport is not over how to deal with the issue of TV money that delayed the start of the 2003-2004 season and still hasn't been resolved. It isn't over the circus at Perugia with their president having recently threatened to not play the remaining 4 games of the season because he didn't like the refereeing. Fake passports are not involved this time around. And surprisingly it's not about if clubs like Roma, Parma, and others should be penalized or even relegated for the poor state of their finances. And it's not about the hooligans that rioted and even set off a bomb at the last Rome derby. The latest controversy in Italy involves 12 clubs being probed by anti-Mafia police regarding alleged links between gambling and organized crime. At this time it appears that 12 clubs in the Serie A, B, and C have had players and staff (coaches, owners, et al.) involved in match fixing. The police investigators reportedly stumbled into this one. They were not looking for this crime, just investigating members of the mafia for other crimes. The clubs involved, according to ITV [http://itv-football.co.uk/News/story_109630.shtml], are Ascoli, Catanzaro, Chievo, Crotone, Fermana, Lecce, Lumezzane, Piacenza, Reggina, Sassari, and Taranto. It is a shame that this has occurred. The timing of such a scandal would never be good. But with the current state of the game in Italy, the timing is horrible. The Italian FA should be spending their time on solving some issues that has been festering for awhile. The Serie A and other leagues need to address the issue of the solvency of the clubs. Clubs such as Roma, Lazio, Parma, and others have acquired a mountain of debts and are at risk of going completely out of business. The league needs to address this issue this summer. If they don’t, we could very well see a mess in the Serie A next year with a team or two going out of business during the 2004-05 season. Related Links: