Inter should hand back title, says Italian FA

Italian FA president Giancarlo Abete believes Inter Milan should hand back the 2006 Serie A title on the basis of ethics.

The FIGC decided on Monday there were no legal grounds to revoke the title from Inter because of a statute of limitations preventing them from doing so.

Evidence from the ‘Calciopoli 2’ trial at the tribunal of Naples reportedly showed Inter were in contact with referees and designators at the time of the scandal.

But because of the statute of limitations, the FIGC are unable to strip Inter of the title, meaning they hold on to the 2006 Scudetto.

“I hoped that Inter would’ve foregone the statute of limitations in this case,” FIGC president Abete told the press.

“There is no statute of limitations on ethics.”

“We had to stick to the rules. If the rules do not satisfy some, then that is out of our hands.”

Some reports have suggested Juventus may appeal to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

Inter were retrospectively awarded the title after it was stripped from Juventus after the 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, in which the Turin club was caught trying to influence referees and referee selection to effect the outcome of matches.

However, a report from a federal prosecutor earlier this month accused Inter of also having illegal contact with referees and Juventus lodged a request with the FIGC to leave the 2006 title vacant.

But the governing body announced on Monday that there was ‘no judicial basis for the revocation’ of the 2006 Scudetto from Inter, a decision which Juventus said smacked of double standards.

The Calciopoli scandal led to Juventus being stripped of the league titles they had won in 2005 and 2006, as well as being relegated to Serie B and deducted nine points.

Fellow Serie A clubs Fiorentina, AC Milan and Lazio were also deducted points for their roles in the scandal.