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Punishments Handed Down in Italian Match Fixing Scandal

ham_man

ham_man

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 21, 2005
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The BBC is reporting that the sports tribunal handling the Italian match fixing scandal has handed down punishments to AC Milan, Juventus, Lazio, and Fiorentina.

Juventus
-stripped of its last two Serie A titles
-demoted to Serie B
-30 points deducted for from next season's total
-barred from entering Champion's League competition

Lazio
-demoted to Serie B
-7 points deducted from next season's total
-barred from entering UEFA Cup competition

Fiorentina
-demoted to Serie B
-12 points deducted from next season's total
-barred from entering Champions League competition

AC Milan
-remains in Serie A
-15 points deducted from next season's total
-barred from entering Champions League competition

The article also states that all four clubs will appeal the decision.
 
Great. If they got away with it, others would do it. They cheated, and they've been punished.

Now let's hope Jim Gannon can get hold of a few of those inevitable transfers :cool:
 
Juve was a tad on the harsh side in my opinion but punishment was definately needed.

Italian football has been riddled with it for many many years... now they have caught it at least they have done something about it
 
Nice to see they didn't get amnesty for winning the WC...I didn't think that would happen, but you never know...
 
I think this is a very nice mix. The punishments are variable based on severity, the punishments will hurt but not ruin the clubs, and they send a strong message to other clubs.

Also, I just realised that no clubs will be relegated out of Serie A except for Juventus, Lazio, and Fiorentina. That's good news for the 18-20 placed teams.

I guess the 06-07 will see a two horse race between Inter and AS Roma... :rolleyes:
 
I wonder what would've happened if this had been the English Premiership, and the clubs involved were Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelski, Man U, etc? They'd probably form a break-away league given that the way they stamp their feet when anything doesn't go their way, or they have to share some of their precious TV money :rolleyes:
 
FleurDuMal said:
I wonder what would've happened if this had been the English Premiership, and the clubs involved were Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelski, Man U, etc? They'd probably form a break-away league...
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I'm sure Sky would be more than happy to go along with that... :rolleyes:
 
WildCowboy said:
Nice to see they didn't get amnesty for winning the WC...I didn't think that would happen, but you never know...
Click to expand...

I think there was one official who spoke out in favour of that and was swiftly told that the players, the other clubs were against it.

I wonder whether it would have been harsher still though had Italy not won.
 
Glad to see that proper action has been taken and the authorities had the bottle to go through with it. I had a worry that there would be a bit of a whitewash – a couple of fines thrown around, the teams involved docked a handful of points, and general slapping of wrists and promises of not to do it again. Still, they have the right to appeal so there's still the chance they may worm their way out of it...

It looks like Juve are going to find themselves in a heck of a relegation scrap next season. 30 points is a big deficit to overcome, plus looking at the table from last season it took 46 points to stay up. So we're looking at them needing 76+ points from a potential 126 just to stay up...
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Glad to see that proper action has been taken and the authorities had the bottle to go through with it. I had a worry that there would be a bit of a whitewash – a couple of fines thrown around, the teams involved docked a handful of points, and general slapping of wrists and promises of not to do it again. Still, they have the right to appeal so there's still the chance they may worm their way out of it...

It looks like Juve are going to find themselves in a heck of a relegation scrap next season. 30 points is a big deficit to overcome, plus looking at the table from last season it took 46 points to stay up. So we're looking at them needing 76+ points from a potential 126 just to stay up...
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And how much of a team will they have to do it? Viera's already said he's off if they're relegated, how many others will go too? Most would be my guess.
 
Nickygoat said:
And how much of a team will they have to do it? Viera's already said he's off if they're relegated, how many others will go too? Most would be my guess.
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That's right. Getting the points required would be a challenge even with a full strength side – as it stands it's likely their big names will jump ship, and you'd say it's going to prove difficult to attract new signings given the situation they're in.

It's not looking like it's going to be an enjoyable season for them, that's for sure.
 
FleurDuMal said:
I wonder what would've happened if this had been the English Premiership, and the clubs involved were Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelski, Man U, etc? They'd probably form a break-away league given that the way they stamp their feet when anything doesn't go their way, or they have to share some of their precious TV money :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have been surprised if that happened if AC Milan where involved.

I would have gone along with a european super league...
 
Probably being thick here and not understanding how leagues and stuff really work. But can someone explain the wider ramifications of this decision?

So 4 super-duper clubs get relegated and that's their punishment. Good. But they are being relegated to a league that is occupied with a number of clubs that are trying to get promoted to the higher league from which these teams have been relegated. And at the bottom of this lower league are 4 clubs who will be trying to stop being relegated at the end of next season.

So the 4 super duper clubs will (probably) occupy the top 4 positions of the inferior league and get promoted to the top league at the end of next season. Is that right? And, by so doing, the will have prevented the current top 4 clubs from being promoted?

If that is correct, doesn't it mean that other clubs are being punished indirectly? And that doesn't seem right or fair. :(
 
UKnjb said:
Probably being thick here and not understanding how leagues and stuff really work. But can someone explain the wider ramifications of this decision?
Click to expand...
Well, the clubs who would have been relegated this season from Serie A have got a reprieve, so they'll benefit from the decision. As for the situation in Serie B, they might find it tricky to get promoted next season given the points deductions they'll have to overcome – in particular Juventus, who are going to have to pull out all the stops to ensure they don't actually get relegated again.

The clubs involved are also missing out on European competition – this will impact them in two key ways. Firstly, it means that they're losing out on a huge amount of money. Even if they get promoted this season and finish high enough in Serie A next season to qualify, that's two seasons out of Europe and that's going to hit them in the pocket. Secondly, the lack of European competition means it's going to be hard to attract quality players to sign for the clubs. If you're a top Europe-based player, you aren't going to sign for a club who aren't going to be playing in the Champions League or UEFA Cup for a few seasons.

As for does it punish the other clubs in Serie B... I don't think it does, not really. The chances are the relegated teams will get promoted over the next few seasons, but I wouldn't expect them to all go up in the same year so there's room for other clubs to achieve promotion too. Bear in mind as well that the relegated teams are going to lose their top players so they won't be as strong over the next few seasons as they are currently. In fact, the Serie B clubs could benefit in one way – you'd think that when Juventus and the others come to visit it would boost the attendances significantly, so there is the chance that they might actually benefit financially.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
~SNIP~ In fact, the Serie B clubs could benefit in one way – you'd think that when Juventus and the others come to visit it would boost the attendances significantly, so there is the chance that they might actually benefit financially.
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Aaaaah - thanks for the explanation. I think. :confused: Hadn't thought of the indirect benefits of increased crowds coming to watch because of Juventus or whoever playing. And I didn't realise that it would take a couple of seasons for all 4 of the clubs to get promoted again.

Thanks again for the explanation. I think I ought to stick with rowing. This football malarkey is too complicated for the likes of me. :)
 
Alert - ignorant American asking soc- um, football question;) :

So, with those four teams dropping to B, does that automatically push up four teams from B into A next year, or is the points total the determining factor, meaning there will just be fewer A sides and more B sides for the next couple of seasons?:confused:
 
The bottom four Serie A teams from last season will be staying up in Serie A as replacements, rather than being demoted. You'll be able to tell who they are by the HUGE grins on their faces :)
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Well, the clubs who would have been relegated this season from Serie A have got a reprieve, so they'll benefit from the decision. As for the situation in Serie B, they might find it tricky to get promoted next season given the points deductions they'll have to overcome – in particular Juventus, who are going to have to pull out all the stops to ensure they don't actually get relegated again.
Click to expand...

Not only that, but there would have been teams coming down from Serie A to Serie B anyway, so the other clubs in Serie B would still be fighting "better" teams - just not necessarily Juve, Fio and Lazio.

With the points deficit, especially for Juve, technically it should level the playing field. I'd imagine the player loss to have a dramatic effect though. "Firesale" was how Motson put it during the world cup and that sums it up pretty well.
 
I think that the teams that would have been relegated from Serie A have now been reprieved.

The teams that were promoted from Serie B last year will still be promoted.

While I'm glad the Italian federation stuck to its guns, my only concern is whether Italian football will be weakened if there are mass transfers to teams outside Italy. I'd hope that perhaps some of the mid-table teams in Serie A might take the opportunity to gamble and go for the superstars so they stay in Italy and keep the league strong.
 
Applespider said:
While I'm glad the Italian federation stuck to its guns, my only concern is whether Italian football will be weakened if there are mass transfers to teams outside Italy. I'd hope that perhaps some of the mid-table teams in Serie A might take the opportunity to gamble and go for the superstars so they stay in Italy and keep the league strong.
Click to expand...

Yeah I hope the big players stick to the Italian league. If not then it could well damage Italian football for a long time. You'd think that a lot of the native Italian players would still want to play in their home country but if they get big offers from other leagues then they might not.

On the face of it, The Italian teams now eligible for the European competitions will be some of the weaker ones so it's already bad for the wider game in that way. Hopefully Roma and co can step up.

Such a contrast from the Joy of winning the world cup too. Quite sad really but punishment was needed. :(
 
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