In 2004, Italy’s most important football league, the Serie A, was in the mouth of everyone. However, it wasn’t because the teams had an outstanding performance or because a new champion had risen – it was because of a scandal known as Calciopoli.
“Calciopoli” was the name given to a series of events that happened in Italy’s Serie A, the top-tier football league in that country. The scandal involved mainly the Juventus, although other teams also took part in it, such as Milan and Fiorentina. The other two teams involved were Lazio and Regina.
The controversy had its repercussions in July 2006. The Juventus not only was left without the championship title in the previous season – 2004-05 – then was left at the bottom of the league. In the end, they were downgraded to the Serie B.
The scandal consisted in a fraud that involved the teams mentioned above and certain referees.
“Calciopoli” happened more than fourteen years ago. As this is one of the biggest football polemics that has happened in Italy, today we’ll bring you all the details about it.
Let’s travel back to the Serie A’s 2004-2005 season. Through intercepted phone calls, it was discovered that certain teams, especially the most prominent ones, had conspired to earn advantages in the matches. How? They designated referees that played in their favor during key matches. This way, they would have influence on the results.
The prosecutors of the GEA World, the Italian football agency, investigated what happened and intercepted phone calls. These talks were later published via the Italian newspapers, but not only the ones about sports, but also those with general information. All of these events were published under the name of “calciopoli.”
According to the leaked information, the general directors of the Juventus during that moment, Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo, were talking directly the Serie A’s officials to have influence in the designation of referees. After the denouncement was submitted to the judges of Turin, the entire phone calls where Moggi and Giraudo were registered.
In one of these phone calls, Pierluigi Parietto, the boss of referees of the Italian Football Federation (FIF) was asked to design “favorable” referees for the Juventus. In fact, some names were even suggested to support the team “discreetly.” This way, the matches would follow a different path.
These investigations were expanded to other teams after it was observed that Pairetto was talking with directives from other teams for the same purpose – teams like Fiorentina and Lazio.
There were sanctions for all the teams involved. During the first year, this was an event only known for those involved in the sports scene. However, the conversations were leaked to the local newspapers, and it expanded quickly.
It was in July 4 of 2006 that the first sanctions were announced, with the Juventus being the team most affected by it.
The Juventus was relegated to the Serie B after thirty points were subtracted from their record. Furthremore, they had to pay a fine of €120,000.
The AC Milan wasn’t allowed to play in the Champions League during the next season. However, the team still classified for it and even took the championship. However, fifteen points were subtracted from their record and had to pay a fine of €100,000.
Fiorentina was relegated to the Serie B too after 12 points were subtracted from their record. They had to pay a fine of €100,000 too.
30 points were discounted from Lazio’s record, and they also had to pay a fine of €100,000.
Moreover, each directive received individual penalties. For instance, Lazio’s president was suspended for four months, and the Juventus’s administrator for five years.
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