Italy ´set to lose Champions League spot´

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said Monday that Italy are set to lose a Champions League spot to Germany as a result of the infamous 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

“One of the effects of the Calciopoli is to have reverberations on the UEFA index for Italy and from now on it’s practically certain that Germany will overtake us,” said Galliani.

“We have less than a 0.5-point advantage on Germany (at the beginning of the season), and it’s now certain that from 2012 we’re going to lose a Champions League team and even maybe in 2011.”

The UEFA index is calculated on the performance of clubs in each country in European competitions during the past five seasons and determines the number of teams each country can line out in Champions League and Europa League.

The top three in the current index — England, Spain and Italy — are allowed four teams in the money-spinning Champions League.

Galliani said that the Calciopoli scandal resulted in the disappearance of some of the strongest teams in Italy, such as Juventus who were relegated, and their replacement by teams without the same ambitions.

“With all the respect that I have for Chievo it is obvious that they couldn’t have the same objectives as Juve,” added Galliani.

Several other teams were punished for trying to rig matches after a number of telephone conversations between club, league and refereeing officials were intercepted and published.

Juventus were relegated to Serie B and stripped of their last two titles while AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina were all handed point penalties for the next season.