Just when the general consensus of opinion was that things cannot get any worse in Italian football, the Neapolitan Public Prosecutors decided otherwise by considerably extending the scope of last summer's investigation into match-fixing in Serie A and B. The twenty four games that were originally under investigation have been increased to 39 as the Italians oscillate timelessly in between admonishment and amnesty (for some).
The story so far is that Juventus were demoted while Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina had points deductions. The main beneficiaries were Roma and Inter who were presented with a Serie A duopoly for the current season and Messina who avoided relegation thanks to the fall of the Old Lady. There is an instance of dietrologia here in that the very same Messina are now being added to the list of teams who are suspected of seeking to influence matches. "We have nothing to do with this scandal. And we have always operated with complete legality and transparency," Messina president Pietro Franza hilariously claimed (with tongue firmly in cheek) in yesterday's press release. Sicily is a mess. I can feel another round of point adjustments coming on here. Public prosecutor Filippo Beatrice aims to bring the miscreants to justice between now and June so the key decision is whether penalties will be applied with hindsight to the current season or whether season 2007/08 is to take the form of a handicap too. To date, the Serie A points adjustments seem to be readjusted periodically to ensure that the correct teams end up in the correct positions at the season's end.
Eight referees were originally suspended but only two served a ban De Santis (who is banned) and Paparesta who has returned to officiate 10 Serie A games this season while also still being involved in UEFA events). He must be feeling suitably disciplined then. It is interesting to look at the other initially banned officials. Below is a list of the most frequently utilised officials in this season's Serie A:
Saccani 15
Ayroldi, BERTINI, Farina, Rizzoli 14
Rosetti, ROCCHI, MESSINA 13
Bergonzi, Girardi, TAGLIAVENTO 12
The officials in capitals were those initially suspended. Rodomonti has hung up his whistle; Dondarini has officiated at ten matches as has Paparesta but the latter was out of action for two months. There is no evidence that the Italian football authorities have carried through with their initial drive with regard to referees as now it seems that twenty five referees, 18 of whom are still working in the Italian league, also remain under suspicion. In the early phases of the current season, numerous new officials were introduced onto the roster to limit corruption opportunities but most of these have now been discarded as the power regimes reassert themselves.
We have frequently praised aspects of Italian manners in dealing with illegalities but, by the time the various appeals have been heard, the punishments rarely fit the crime and, additionally, power politics warps any sense of justice. Milan were as guilty as Juventus with respect to the controlling of officials and indeed, during Berlusconi's era, Milan through Galliani were omnipotent. The dichotomous outcome for the Big 2 is that the least guilty, Juventus, effectively lose all their players, one year's income, television money, have two years of Champions League omission and a borse battering while the most guilty, Milan, ensure that their points deduction doesn't prevent Champions League qualification for next season and then focus on reaching the final of this year's competition without the distraction of a domestic title race.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of an Italian season that has only really had drama off the pitch is that, against a chaotic backdrop, Italy deservedly won the World Cup! This victory was, apparently, all the more applaudable in that Blatter and FIFA were allegedly livid at the Italian scandal breaking to coincide with their piece of global marketing. On this latter point, we think some of the public posturing was spectacular society nonsense but Italy's triumph was a major triumph nonetheless.
Subvert, divide and rule, bribe is the standard template used by imperial nations, multinational organisations and globalised businesses. This structure underpins the corruption that has taken hold in the Premiership over the last fifteen years about which there is no mainstream media comment. It also underpins the very public corruption exhibited in Serie A.
The English Premiership could do with a bit of dietrologia as the situation here is considerably worse. But don't hold your breath...
