Pierluigi Collina is returning to the football sphere by taking on a Consultative role with the Aia (the Italian football refereeing authority) under new president Cesare Gussoni. The choice has been criticised by Massimo de Santis (a former referee who retired from officiating following his ban for involvement in the scandal). De Santis doesn't even deserve a platform to speak his views (although he is right to have a concern about the increasing domination of Italian soccer by Sky). Collina was one of the few officials in Serie A that wasn't owned by Juve or Milan and represents a good appointment albeit to a pointless position.
There has been some dynamic to reduce the corruption endemic in the Italian game since Moggiopoli but, as with so many "revolutions", all that has really occurred is a coup. Milan deserved to be relegated alongside Juventus - their control of officials and events showed an equal level of corruption. One can only assume that Berlusconi maintains enough power within Italian society for the deserved demotion of Milan to be commuted. The bias that was enjoyed by the right wing clubs when the right wing were in power is now being replicated on the left - Roma have the highest Referee Bias Ratio for season 2006/07 of any club in any of the territories that we monitor.
Politics is a much bigger influence on football in Italy. Once Berlusconi and Forza Italia were kicked out by the voters and Romano Prodi's Centre-Left gained control, there were instant power shifts throughout the Italian infrastructure (Sicily is particularly entertaining at the moment). Similar structures exist in other countries (plot the correlation between Real Madrid winning La Liga and the Partido Popular being in government, for example). In fact, throughout southern and eastern Europe, clubs are unusual if they are not tied to a political, social or regional cause. Far-left Livorno or Basque Athletic Bilbao do not have an equivalent in the Premiership where the only divide historically has been between clubs with mainly protestant or mainly catholic support.
Football is becoming part of the portfolio to enable political parties to broaden their public profiles. The fact that so many fans regard the support of "their" team as a quasi-religious experience allows the powermen to gain extra kudos from the successes of "their" team - Berlusconi used this to maximum effect at Milan.
The outcomes of national football leagues should not depend on which political party is running the country. Full stop.
© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
