The absence of a close season state of uproar in Serie A has been most conspicuous by its absence this summer so it was somewhat comforting to hear of the bans announced on Monday for four players who have been found out betting on match outcomes.
And these aren't just any old players but four of the senior statesmen of the Italian game. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has handed out medium term bans and fines to these players plus fines for the clubs involved in the match manipulations - Udinese, Vicenza and Mantova.
It only became illegal for Italian footballers to bet on matches in 2005 which is one of the reasons why Gianluigi Buffon's betting slips running to several million euros didn't lead to a ban in last year's calciocaos crisis. The difference between last years crisis and this is that the match officials are not involved in the manipulations this time around. Despite that, the mechanism remains the same - insiders profiting from rigged matches and it would be reasonable to assume that a punishment of points reductions for the three highlighted teams would be appropriate. Not so. When the scope of the inquiry into moggiopoli was extended to include further games and more referees towards the end of last season, there was a determined effort by all parties for the extension in the investigation to be undertaken in a quiet manner away from the press and the public. This extension was, effectively, a doubling of the remit of the investigation into match-fixing and yet media coverage was virtually non-existent. This anti-spin continues. The press release relating to these four players being banned was hidden away at the "in breve" (in brief) section of the FIGC homepage yesterday not quite as important as the two full articles regarding Italy's next friendly international. Additionally, as a news item, this latest scandal will not exist following today's announcement of the fixtures for 2007/08 season - always a big topic of discussion in Italy.
Anyway, the details of the banned players are archived below before the news item disappears.
David Di Michele is an Italian international who has just completed a move from Palermo to Torino although his debut will be delayed by three months following the disciplinary action by the FIGC. His bank balance will also be 20,000 euros lighter.
Vincenzo Sommese will be unemployable for five months and twenty days and he will possess 10000 euros less to be betting with. Thomas Manfredini is banned for three months and Massimo Margiotta for four, the latter also having to pay out a 10000 euro fine.
The authorities in Italy were brave to confront the cosy relationships between bookmakers, clubs, referees, players and the mafia but, as we have itemised previously, the investigation was hijacked by Milan from Day One. While Juventus were stripped of two titles, lost a whole squad, were relegated and lost extensive UEFA and merchandising income, Milan had their punishment repeatedly reduced until a Champions League position was assured and last year's Champions League final was won. It is a peculiar backdrop to calciocaos that Italy won the World Cup and Milan the Champions League in the 12 month period covering the uproar.
In 1992, Italian political and business society was turned upside down, apparently, by tangentopoli (bribesville) which confronted the accommodating structure of corruption throughout the upper reaches of Italian society. There are two points worthy of comment here. Firstly, it is generally accepted at all dietrologia gatherings that tangentopoli merely altered the faces while leaving the corrupt infrastructure intact - a sort of investigative neutron bomb. Secondly, football's self appraisal is proving similarly blinkered. Guido Rossi is a key figure here in that he took on an investigative role in both tangentopoli and moggiopoli. The man resigned just months into the moggiopoli inquiry stating: "football does not want rules, it just wants me to solve its problems". The most revealing overview, however, came from Francesco Barelli, Milan's former chief prosecutor, when he declared towards the end of the investigation that: "economic interests in football far outweigh sporting interests".
This is an attitude of mind that should be carried forward into all the new seasons that are about to commence across Europe.
© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
