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More than 40 people, manager, referees and football association officials are all under investigation on allegations of fixing games, criminal association, fraud and false accounting. A scandal so serious, the inquiry is in the hands of those who usually investigate the Maffia.
A dissenter of the scandal, Luciano Moggi, the former general manager of one of Italy's top football clubs, Juventus.
As of Monday I'll have resigned, he said, fighting back tears. From this day the world of soccer is no longer my world. Now, I will think about defending myself from the malice said about me.
Moggi and other officials deny any wrongdoing but investigators say Moggi influenced the appointment of referees. Journalist Paddy Agnew just published a book analyzing Italian society and football.
I think that money part is the least part of it. It's a network of influence, they will...you know, it's a network in which, you know, you do me one favor, I'll do you another back. It's, it's the way Italian society works to a certain extent. And they presumably felt that Moggi a very powerful person. He can do them favors they would do him favors , and something, you know, the system worked fine for them. But the problem is it's left Italian football in a state of crisis.
Sunday Juventus won the Italian championship for a record of 29th time, but the allegations are about last season and Italy's leading sports daily suggests Juventus could be stripped of its last two titles. In Torino, Juventus hometown many fans are angry at their team.
They ruined football even if I'm a Juventus fan, says this man, but Juventus didn't need this kind of help. We could have won anyway. And some fans say Juventus' relationship with referees was suspiciously cozy.
I hope justice will be done, she says, if I didn't believe in that I would have not come to the match. I think there are people who can help us restore confidence in the game.
The scandal has also cast a cloud over Italy's world cup team. The magistrates are investigating allegations that the goalkeeper has illegally bet on games and whether or not Luciano Moggi had a say on which players should be selected for the national team traveling to Germany for the World Cup, an allegation that Italy's national coach Marcello Lippi flatly denies.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome. dissenter magistrate cosy referee
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magistrate 地方官员
cosy 舒适安逸的
referee 仲裁人
dissenter 反对者
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