Shocked by alleged corruption in Italy

With the excitement of the Champions League and all the big name retirements and managerial movements, together with the farcical shenanigens involving FIFA and the FA, I have only just become aware of what really is a massive story coming out of Italy.

Shocked

I know that corruption is hardly unheard of in Italian football but I am still shocked when I hear about it. The scale of the current scandal and the high profile people involved make it even more shocking, to me anyway.

Italian police issued sixteen detention orders in places as far and wide as Rome, Turin, Naples, Bologna, Ancona, Cremona and Ferrara. Amongst the sixteen people arrested was former footballer Giuseppe Signori. The forty-three year old who was three times top scorer in Serie A with Lazio in the 1990s is being held under house arrest.

Arrested

All sixteen have been arrested in relation to match fixing allegations including this season’s Serie A game between Inter Milan and Lecce. Also included are games involving Siena and Atalanta, who were both promoted to Serie A. In total, eighteen games are under investigation.

It is believed that the remaining fifteen people arrested include ex-Serie A players, current players from both Serie B and Serie C, club directors from lower leagues and betting shop employees.

Am I alone in being shocked by this?

Season

I watch football almost every day during the season and to be honest, I watch quite a lot during the close season as well! I do so in the belief that what I am watching is a totally fair contest, the outcome of which is impossible to predict. That is what makes football a great game. I see dfenders beaten by great skill and goalkeepers beaten by great shots. If there is the slightest doubt that those defenders and goalkeepers have allowed themselves to be beaten, the game becomes meaningless.

Crowds have dwindled in Italy and maybe the suspicion that all is not above board has played a part in that. I know that I would find it hard to watch games if that suspicion was there.

How do the fans celebrate success if they know that it may have been bought rather than earned? Maybe I should ask Manchester City fans 🙂

Allegations

Obviously none of the allegations have been substantiated and it is just remotely possible that it will be proved that nothing untoward has gone on. I truly hope that is the case, but it has to be doubtful.

If the allegations are proved to be correct I hope the proverbial book is thrown at everyone involved. Football has to be clean. If it isn’t the game can’t survive.

I can confirm that there is no truth in the rumour that Manchester United accepted bribes to make Barcelona look as though they were from a different planet! That was just because they were 🙂