April 2, 2011
Corruption and money go hand in hand.
Money is a motivating factor for corruption, and corruption is often financed by the transfer of money or other special benefits.
It is a sad fact of life, but you do not have to look very hard to find some form of corruption in virtually any area of life; whether it be in sports, politics, or business.
Almost on a daily basis can you read about a new case of corruption involving some illegal cash advance or exchange.
Unfortunately, football is not immune to the ill effects of corruption. Football has always reflected the society it represents, in both its good and bad, and this is the one reason fans are drawn to the sport.
As in everyday life, football, too, has its fair share of shady characters—or characters that at least have emerged from a mysterious past.
Roman Abramovich—whose fortune was amassed at the breaking up of the old Communist regime in the former USSR—is one such "mysterious" character in the game.
Another is Milan’s very own Silvio Berlusconi, who is the club’s President in addition to being the current Italian Prime Minister. Berlusconi’s political career is littered with allegations of fraud, tax evasion, and, most recently, sexual misconduct.
Whenever a new case of corruption or scandal erupts, it is always wise to look at who benefits the most. Because, most of the time, the real perpetrators are the same ones that benefit the most.
Of course, this is always hard to prove; such is the way of the world. Nonetheless, any intellectually curious mind should seek all possible explanations for any significant case of corruption.
Here I will present a view, albeit just one point of view, on the scandal that rocked Italian football in 2006. It was a scandal that exposed the apparent corruptible practices of Calcio’s football elite—bar a couple of noticeable exceptions.
It was a scandal of such proportions that its debilitating effects are still being felt in Italian football today.
Italy’s Serie A has since been in decline, and it is now considered only the fourth best league in Europe—at least in UEFA’s coefficient ranking system which is the only ranking that really matters.
Much has been said of Calciopoli, as it is referred to.
There has been talk of the punishments that were handed to Juventus and Fiorentina as being illegal by Italian football law. Even the evidence provided that sent Juventus down to Serie B has been called into question.
In fact, the questions marks raised over the entire scandal have been growing ever since ultimately leading to what we have now, Calciopoli II.
Today, the investigation that was carried out in the years preceding Calciopoli is now under investigation itself.
Such an event leads one to question the whole affair.
Why did it occur in the first place? Who was involved in the first investigation that led to the punishments of Italy’s top brass football clubs? What is the view of officials and players that have expressed doubt about the validity of the scandal?
These are just some of the questions that a reasonable person may ask themselves. The most important question to consider, when considering everything that has been said and done, is who stood to benefit the most, and if there was any one in particular who did, be it a club or figure, is it reasonable to suggest that they hand in the precipitation of Calciopoli, and if so, did they have a motivation for it?
In considering Calciopoli, it is hard not to readily arrive at the conclusion that it was Inter who emerged from the scandal in a better shape than anyone.
With Juventus relegated to Serie B, and Milan, Lazio, and Fiorentina all severely punished for their alleged misconduct, Inter were the only major Italian side left standing.
With Juventus and Milan down and out, Inter were able to establish themselves as the number one team in Italy.
Not only was the Serie A greatly weakened in a competitive sense to Inter’s advantage, but Inter were able to purchase—and for not so great a sum—former Juventus players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira.
Inter, a club that had not won the Scudetto since 1989 and whose only major trophy since was in 1999 when they won the UEFA Cup were now the strongest side in Italy without equal.
Successive Italian league titles were consequently collected. After years of frustration and copious amounts of money spent star players, Inter’s President Massimo Moratti finally could enjoy success.
Is it that unreasonable to suggest that Inter and its President may have been a reason why the whole scandal erupted in the first place?
After all, it was Inter and its President that benefited the most from the scandal without doubt. Five years on, Inter are still the dominant side in Italy, albeit they look likely to lose this season’s title race for the first time since.
It is a view that is surely not popular, but this is always the case in instances such as these.
Yet, the opening of Calciopoli II gives credibility to this viewpoint. As do some of the suspicious links and relationships between certain figures during the first Calciopoli that only force one to consider an alternative explanation.
Given the startling connections between Telecom Italia, the FIGC, the Gazzetta dello Sport, and Moratti, there is reason to consider that Moratti played a part in fabricating the whole 2006 scandal.
To go back in time, the 2006 trial was sparked from the pages of the Gazetta dello Sport—a football paper known by rival fans of as the "Gazetta dello Inter"—when it printed out transcripts of telephone conversations with former Juventus transfer guru, Luciano Moggi.
Interestingly, at that time, the Gazzetta was owned by a certain Carlo Buora, who, coincidentally, was formerly Vice President of Inter during the 1990’s.
Such a connection raises questions about the motivating factor behind publishing the transcripts. Because, after all, by publishing transcripts of private conversations, the Gazzetta was possibly breaching Italian law; this was something no newspaper would do lightly.
Even more interesting, these same transcripts that were taken from recordings by Telecom Italia involving Moggi and other officials at rival clubs including Milan, Lazio, and Fiorentina had actually been recorded two years prior to Calciopoli.
After being sent to magistrates in Turin, Rome, and Naples, it was concluded that no incriminating evidence existed; therefore no action was taken.
The failure of indicting rival clubs into a scandal through legal means, for those who believe Moratti had a role in creating Calciopoli, was the reason the Inter chief turned to his old friend at the Gazzetta dello Sport.
By releasing the transcripts through one of Italy’s most popular sport newspapers perhaps Moratti hoped for a media frenzy to develop, as it did, that would incriminate certain rival clubs publicly.
If he held such a hope, he was duly appeased.
With the onset of the media frenzy that took place, the FIGC, Italy’s principal football authority, were forced to open an investigation.
With Andrea Galliani, the then President of the FIGC, forced to resign following Milan’s possible implication in the scandal, Guido Rossi duly took over control of the FIGC.
Rossi, a self-proclaimed Interisti was a major shareholder in the club, in addition to being a close friend of Moratti. He also served as a director at Inter from 1995-99. Coincidentally, his first task as commissioner of the FIGC was to oversee the Calciopoli trials.
Once Juventus were indicted in the scandal—after their punishment that saw them humiliatingly relegated to Serie B was handed to them—Rossi resigned from his post as President of the FIGC to become president of TIM (Telecom Italia), which just happened to be the company that had recorded those conversations involving Moggi and others in the first place.
Also on the board of TIM was none other than the head of the Gazzetta dello Sport, Carlo Buora, who by now is a familiar name.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, Moratti himself also served on the board of TIM at the time alongside his two friends Buora and Rossi. But the questionable ties do not end here.
A certain Maro Tronchetti Provera is Inter Milan’s second largest shareholder, second only to Moratti. Provera is also, coincidentally, the owner of Pirelli, the company that is the shirt sponsor of Inter and is also the company that owns TIM.
Simply put, Telecom Italia, Gazzetta dello Sport, and Inter Milan were all owned by the same people at the time.
Did this curious consortium of former Inter directors and Interisti conspire to eliminate their rivals and pave the way for their beloved Inter to dominate Italian football, even if it were at the expense of the league itself?
This is a question that cannot be answered, but one that surely cannot be refuted irrevocably. However, what can be stated with confidence is that these gentlemen, if they were to conspire as such, definitely held the power to carry out such a scheme.
Hypothetically, if one were to believe that this consortium of "Interisti" were the reason behind the outbreak of Calciopoli, then it makes it easy to understand why Inter escaped with absolutely no penalties or punishments—unlike their rivals Juventus and Milan.
Such a consortium would not punish themselves, especially with their intent being to eliminate their rivals rather than bring about justice.
As part of the Calciopoli II scandal, which is currently in procedure at the pedestrian pace so typical of Italian legal proceedings, the actual validity of the "evidence" that served to indict Luciano Moggi and his alleged fellow conspirators is being reviewed.
Is it possible that the transcripts that sent Juventus down to Serie B and that banned Moggi from Italian football for five years was not incriminating evidence, but rather blown out of proportion for specific intents and purposes?
Well, considering the fact that a whole new investigation is being opened to answer this question, then of course it is possible.
One question relating to this whole affair that can be answered was whether it was legally proper for Inter to be awarded the 2005-06 Scudetto after Juventus had had it revoked from them.
According to Italian law, this was illegal, and it is so on this premise that Juventus are today involved in a legal hearing to have their 2006 Scudetto handed back to them.
All this may lead one to ask why exactly did Juventus, a club owned by the largest corporation in Italy, FIAT, did not take legal action at the time.
One possible explanation for the club’s decision not to act may have been because TIM is a major sponsor of Ferrari (a company owned by FIAT). Another reason is because had Juve appealed at the time, then the Serie A season would have been delayed for so long that it may not have even taken place.
Had this been the case, FIFA threatened to ban Italy from all competitions, including international competition.
In addition, such an appeal could have uncovered a Pandora’s Box of Italian football—possibly bringing into contempt the league’s major sponsor, TIM, and possibly jeopardizing a main **** of revenue for the Italian game.
Calcio and its very existence, as we know it, could have been put in jeopardy.
All this information certainly causes one to raise an eyebrow. It seems plausible, but, even for rival fans of Inter, the thought of such events is disheartening.
If all that has been suggested is true, or even partly true, then how incontrovertibly sobering it all is for Italian football has not been the same since.
Before the scandal, Italy boasted some of the greatest and best supported teams in the world.
Juventus and Milan were great teams, and their appearance in the all-Italian Champions League final of 2004 was testament to this. Even Inter were a force to be reckoned with, both domestically and internationally, whilst the league in general was much stronger.
Today, this is not the case. Italian teams struggle on the big stage, and neither Milan nor Juventus have truly recovered since—despite Milan’s 2007 Champions League triumph.
This is the legacy of Calciopoli.
The hope remains that Calciopoli may discern the truth; however, this seems unlikely.
But, if ever the truth were discovered, and if it is what has been suggested here, the repercussions for those involved would be serious.
Here are a few of the violations that could be alleged:
violations of constitutional rights during the proceedings
the rule restructuring done by the tribunal to justify an unnecessary relegation
the commissioner of the trial (Guido Rossi) having being an Inter shareholder and former director; therefore guilty of conflict of interest
the wiretaps recorded by TIM, a company that is now being prosecuted for espionage and evidence tampering after one of their former employees (Tavaroli) agreed to cooperate with prosecutors
It is also worth mentioning the much publicized case of Christian Vieri and his accusations against Moratti.
Vieri has helped to illuminate possible misdeeds by claiming publicly that Calciopoli was the complete work of Massimo Moratti.
The former Inter striker ran into trouble with Moratti a few years back, suing the Inter President and telecommunications company, Telecom Italia, for illegal wiretapping.
Vieri hints at the idea that Moratti and his friend Marco Tronchetti Provera conspired to wiretap individuals from rival Italian teams in order to eliminate them from Serie A and pave the way for Inter’s success.
Vieri claims the Inter players were all aware of Moratti’s plan, and that they were required to sign a document promising to keep their mouths shut. Vieri, a free spirit of sorts, was not trusted and therefore claims that Moratti and Provera had his phone wiretapped.
If all this were found to be true, then perhaps worse damage would be done to the Italian game than the damage that has already taken place.
This is not to say that if ever the truth were discovered and if the truth was what has been suggested, then those responsible should not be condemned. On the contrary, they should.
Just this week Massimo Moratti faced further questioning about his involvement in the scandal—adding weight to the position put forward here that he too was not completely innocent.
Furthermore, it has been discovered that Moratti was involved in similar conversations to those of Luciano Moggi in the years leading to the outbreak of the scandal.
But Italian football cannot withstand another major scandal in the near future. The league is already rife with other problems and issues.
For now, the main concern should be reviving Italian football’s fading fortunes. The Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, and now the Bundesliga are all ahead of the Serie A in terms of profitability, crowd attendances, stability, crowd attendances, and, most importantly, club performances in Europe.
Italian football needs reform; it needs progress, and this is what the focus should now be on, regardless of what has come before.
