Random Rants on the Beautiful Game

Strong Italian World Cup squad could be undone by scandal.

By Chris Courtney
SoccerTimes

BRUSSELS (Friday, May 26, 2006) -- This year the Italians have assembled perhaps their strongest squad since the team that finished second at the 1994 World Cup.

The latest edition of the Azzurri, which will face the United States men in their second World Cup match June 17, features a collection of some of the best talent on the planet. The strikers are led by Fiorentina's breakout star Luca Toni, who tallied 31 goals this season to guide his team to qualify for the Champions League. Potential striking partners for Toni include AS Roma's recovering Francesco Totti, Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero and AC Milan's Alberto Gilardino, to name a few. The midfield is led by AC Milan's playmaking maestro Andrea Pirlo, along with his club teammate Gennaro Gattuso, plus AS Roma's Daniele De Rossi and Juve's Mauro Camoranesi.

The defense, always an Italian strength, is anchored by a wall of Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi, AC Milan's Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta of Juventus, plus Palermo's Cristian Zaccardo, among others. In goal, manager Marcello Lippi has the choice of Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon or Angelo Peruzzi of Lazio, with Livorno's Marco Amelia as backup. What coach could take a look over his shoulder on the team bus, see such a lineup sitting behind him and be anything but optimistic going into the World Cup?

Any nation with such a powerful team would be giddy about their chances to lift the World Cup at the final game in Berlin on July 9. Unfortunately, Italian fans have something else on their mind these days as Italian soccer has been rocked by a match-fixing scandal with over 40 people currently under investigation for possibly fixing as many as 19 league matches.

It is no secret that the Italian team is a slow starter at the World Cup. Given the long season in the tough, fast paced Serie A, plus the number of top Italian players playing in midweek European level matches, it is no wonder why the Azzurri always look tired during first-round matches. The Serie A season finished only last week, giving Lippi just 18 days to prepare his team for its opener against Ghana. Now that the match-fixing scandal has sent tremors throughout Italian soccer, Lippi and his team face even more distractions during their short preparation time. The coach must keep his players focused while the clubs for over half of his team are being investigated -- no small task.

Prosecutors are talking to senior officials from Juventus while others associated with AC Milan, Lazio, and Fiorentina are also being probed. The investigation also extends to Rome where police have searched the national soccer federation (FIGC) and referee association's offices. Massimo De Santis, who is due to referee in the World Cup in Germany, might have also been questioned. At the heart of the scandal is whether the Italian federation had allowed Juventus to select the referees for its league matches, referees which in turn may have been influenced to favor the club.

This latest scandal dredges up some of the bitter memories of the 1980 situation in which AC Milan and Lazio were demoted to Serie B following a an illegal gambling and match fixing probe.

Juventus just wrapped up its 29th Scudetto (Serie A championship) this month but, if found guilty of fraud, it they could be stripped of the title and demoted to Serie B. Any demotion would then lead to a feeding frenzy as players with relegation clauses in their contracts could move on free transfers or be sold by a management desperate to maintain or regain financial solvency.

Juve general manager Luciano Moggi resigned recently over allegations that he influenced the assignment of officials for Juventus matches. Then, the entire Juventus board resigned after the Italian media released transcripts of recorded telephone conversations between Moggi and high-ranking Italian football federation officials.

Last Thursday, government investigators searched the club's offices and examined documents under the watchful eye of Turin prosecutor Bruno Tinti. Further searches were conducted in the homes of Moggi, former Juve director Antonio Giraudo, and current players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fabio Cannavaro.

During an emergency meeting last Friday, Juventus named Carlo Sant'Albano as the acting managing director until the next shareholder meeting on June 29, when a new board will be selected. The insertion of Sant'Albano, at the behest of Infil, the holding company which owns a 62 percent stake in the club, represents a renewed claim of shareholder assertion of influence on the club, something many thought had been sorely lacking. Infil is also the major shareholder of Fiat, Italy's largest auto manufacturer. Sant'Albano is the former head of mergers and acquisitions for Credit Suisse\First Boston, whose presence should calm investors.

The club's stock has lost more than 40 percent of its value since before the board resigned. The second largest shareholder, Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company has seen its original $38 million investment, a 7.3 percent stake in the club, fall to a current value of about $15 million.

Other related investigations are ongoing in Rome and Parma. In Rome, investigators are taking a look at GEA, the largest sports agency in Italy with over 200 players and coaches under contract. The agency is run by Moggi's son Alessandro. Over in Parma, three players from various clubs are under investigation for allegedly gambling on Serie A matches in which they played.

Last Tuesday, the FIGC was placed under administrative care in response to the crisis. Guido Rossi, a former senator, was named as "extraordinary commissioner" of the federation and is set to introduce a slate of new legislation to clean up the league's reputation. He was appointed after a week that saw league boss Franco Carraro and vice president Innocenzo Mazzini resign amid the current flurry of allegations.

Lippi, a former manager of Juventus, was questioned in Rome for over three hours last week as investigators sought to find out if he was influenced by Moggi to call up certain players for national team duty. Despite some calls for Lippi's resignation, he has been given a vote of confidence by Rossi.

Even newly elected Italian premier Romano Prodi had something to say about the scandal and the reputation of Italian soccer stating it would take an "ethical earthquake" to clean up Italian soccer amid the allegations of fraud, match-fixing and illegal betting.

The Italian football federation is now in a race against time to complete an investigation before it must enter Italian clubs for next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup. It is now feared that the new season in Italy will not be able to start on time in August with some suggesting October might be more realistic.

Ever the clever manager, Lippi is turning the scandal into a motivational tool to convince his national team to restore Italian soccer's tarnished image stating, "I am certain Italy will leave a good image," he said. "We want to take the name of Italian football to make it at the highest level. We know we have this responsibility. We hope to feed the enthusiasm with good results at the World Cup."

If Lippi is successful in getting his powerful team to play like underdogs with something to prove, the Azzurri just might find itself in Berlin for the July 9 World Cup final.

Chris Courtney is SoccerTimes' European correspondent and lives in Brussels.