Juventus FC - Italian Football - Essay Example

After several hearings it was decided that the titles won by Juventus would be handed over to Inter Milan who had finished second in the league behind Juventus in addition to this Juventus was also relegated, which meant that they were supposed to play in the Serie B which is an inferior league for a club like Juventus, the punishment did not stop there, points were deducted for Juventus even in Serie B.

Other clubs were also involved but Juventus received harsh punishment and this decision was not fair, the other teams got off lightly and this should never have happened.
The whole scandal was discovered in May of 2006 by Italian police who had tape records of football managers and referees trying to rig football games, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina were all involved in fixing the games of the Italian league, these are some of the top clubs in Italy and it was shameful. The fans must have also felt cheated when they came across this shameful incident.

It was found that games were fixed by selecting referees who would favor their clubs, the recorded tapes were heard by the Italian police and it was found out that most games were indeed rigged much to the dismay of all the football fans across the globe.
Luciano Moggi who was the general manager of Juventus back then tried to heavily influence the appointment of referees for top Serie A games, he wanted referees who would favor his club so that they would easily win the Serie A title.

Once the clubs were found guilty it was earlier suggested by prosecutors that Juventus should be sent to a division below Serie B, the prosecutor also suggested heavy punishment for the other clubs involved which also included a points deduction. The prosecutor also wanted Juventus to be stripped of their Serie A titles which they had won in the year 2005 and 2006. The initial punishment suggested by the prosecutor wavered; Reggina stayed in Serie A but had to face a 15-point penalty and a hefty fine. The club president of Reggina was banned from the game for a few years but this punishment was just a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment that Juventus received.
Juventus were stripped of their titles which they had won in the year 2005 and 2006, in addition to this they were slapped with a hefty fine and if this was not enough, they were also relegated to Serie B but this was hardly the end. They missed out on playing in the UEFA Champions League in the 06-07 season and they started life in Serie B with a deduction of 9 points.

The other clubs involved in the scandal all stayed in Serie A except Juventus, the punishment was harsh and unjust, it would have been just had all the other clubs been punished in the same manner but it was not the case.

“Inter was awarded the 2006 Serie A title after Juventus was stripped of the honor and relegated to Serie B due to its role in the scandal.
The Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Wednesday that Italian Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete and federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi met on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
It's unclear, however, if the statute of limitations in the case has expired.

The new phone taps came to light as part of the defense of former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi in the Naples case, with Moggi arguing that all the teams were in contact with refereeing officials. (Italian match-fixing scandal)

It was very harsh and something completely unacceptable, we get to see double standards here and double standards are never good in life.
“Another former Juventus executive, Antonio Giraudo, already has received a three-year sentence from the Naples court on charges of criminal association aimed at committing sports fraud. Moggi and Giraudo were banned from football for five years by a sports court for influencing the outcome of matches. They deny wrongdoing. Juventus was stripped of its 2005 and '06 Serie A titles and relegated to the second division with a nine-point penalty. It immediately won promotion back to Serie A.” (Italian match-fixing scandal)
Conclusion

There is no doubt that the people in charge of Juventus FC should not have done this huge mistake but it is also a fact that justice was not done, the other big clubs like Lazio and Milan got away very cheaply but Juventus could not get away cheaply, the club showed a lot of spirit by bouncing straight back to the Serie A the next season despite having a points deduction, Buffon stayed at the club also showing his loyalty for Juventus FC, some players left the club for greener pastures but at the end of the day, justice was not done. The other clubs involved also deserved the same punishment but that was not the case and justice was not done. Read More