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By PETER KIEFER
Published: May 12, 2006
ROME, May 11 — It is being called the biggest scandal in the history of Italian soccer in both scope and timing. And while the rest of the world may be gripped by the anticipation of an approaching World Cup, Italy is confronting anger and shame over the possibility that when it comes to its national passion, the fix was in.
It all started, as it so often does here, with the leaking of taped phone conversations. Last week, a two-year-old conversation between the general director of Italy's most successful and storied soccer club, Juventus, and a soccer official showed up in the Italian news media. Transcripts show Juventus's general director, Luciano Moggi, dubbed Lucky Luciano by his critics, discussing the assignment of referees for league games with Pierluigi Pairetto, the refereeing official for Italy's soccer federation — a clear violation of league rules.
But that was only the tip of it. Other parts of the transcripts, culled by investigators and reported by the Italian news media, show much more: players and managers being threatened and blackmailed; numerous discussions over refereeing assignments before games; the alleged collusion of coaches, federation officials and a popular soccer talk-show host; the blacklisting of those who challenged the corruption; and, of course, the lavish greasing of palms.
Thursday, Juventus's entire board of directors resigned.
All this comes a few months after Germany, the host of this year's World Cup, was roiled by an officiating scandal of its own. In November, the German referee Robert Hoyzer was sentenced to more than two years in prison after admitting that he had accepted money to fix the outcome of matches for a Croatian gambling syndicate. Referees in Brazil and players in Vietnam have also recently been accused of fixing matches.
The hundreds pages of transcripts and evidence accumulated by Italian investigators (two separate investigations are under way) paint a startling picture of the power nexus and back-door dealings that, at least indirectly, seem to have exerted substantial control over Italian soccer.
"No one will be saved," read the opening sentence in an article in Italy's largest daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera. "Between Napoli, Roma and Torino, already Italian soccer seems to be almost entirely under investigation."
Mario Corsi, the host of a soccer radio show and a Roma fan, rather presciently used his show the last few years as a platform to rail against hidden corruption and its cover-up. "This is the biggest scandal of all time because it involves the team of Fiat," he said.
The Agnelli family — which owns the Fiat automotive group — is a major shareholder in Juventus. Juventus, the current leader in Serie A, Italy's top division, has been a dominant force in Italian soccer for decades, winning 28 league titles. On Sunday, the team can clinch its 29th.
The investigations, according to news media reports, depict a level of collusion that includes team owners, managers, referees, the news media and GEA World, a company of agents who represent coaches and players and is run by Moggi's son, Alessandro, who is also under investigation.
Prosecutors are alleging that GEA, through its monopoly on players, resorted to blackmail and extortion and exerted a mafia-like control over the league.
The investigations have heightened suspicions among many soccer fans here that Juventus has received favorable treatment from referees over the years.
"After years of morass, of half-phrases never fully said, of people knowing but not saying (a little out of fear, a little out of convenience and a little because many things are just like this in the world) something is starting to move us," said a front-page editorial in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's sports daily.
The first result of the scandal came earlier this week, when the president of the Italian federation, Franco Carraro, resigned. On Thursday, the Juventus board, including Moggi and Antonio Giraudo, the managing director, resigned.
The investigations continue to gain steam daily and have expanded to include nine teams.
Current and former team owners, and some Italian referees, including Italy's designated World Cup referee, have been called in to answer investigators' questions.
Marcello Lippi, the coach of the Italian national team and a former coach of Juventus, recently said that he did not expect the scandal to have an effect on the World Cup. Italy will play in a first-round group in Germany that includes the United States, the Czech Republic and Ghana.
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