It wouldn't be Italy....

[crowie]

if it wasn't yet another summer of intrigue, match fixing, demotions and general mentalness.

Final rethink for land of confusion
By Gabriele Marcotti
Why life is far from simple in Italy’s Serie A and B


TOMORROW AFTERNOON, BARRING yet another surprise — whether from the courts, the country’s football association or the Almighty himself — the Italian league is expected to finally announce the official fixture lists for the 2005-06 season in Serie A and Serie B. Just in time, too, because the season officially begins in 11 days’ time and football does require a modicum of logistical planning. Then again, you cannot blame them. Until tomorrow morning, no one will know for sure which clubs will play in which division.
This has been the most turbulent summer in Italian football for years, a direct result of a new hardline stance on finances and one of the most brazen, bizarre and objectively pointless match-fixing attempts in history. Of the 20 clubs who thought that they were in Serie A at the end of the promotion play-offs in mid-June, three could be forced to think again by the end of this week.



One of those are Genoa, the quintessential fallen giants, a club steeped in history and arcane tradition. They are Italy’s oldest club, founded in 1893 by English businessmen based in the port city, a fact reflected in the club’s official name “Genoa Cricket and Football Club”. The term long-suffering seems to have been invented to describe Genoa fans, who remain fiercely proud of their club, their achievements (such as the nine Italian titles, although the most recent came more than 80 years ago) and even their name. During the Fascist era, Benito Mussolini changed the club’s name from the English “Genoa” to the Italian “Genova”. Everyone ignored him.

Two summers ago, Enrico Preziosi acquired the club, which had been stuck in Serie B for several years. He promised a return to the glory days but was met with healthy scepticism, given that Como, the club he previously owned, went bankrupt, yet Preziosi emerged unscathed.

Preziosi, whose day job is in toy manufacturing, surprised everyone by digging deep into his pockets, signing big names such as Diego Milito, the Argentina forward, and assembling a team capable of challenging for promotion to Serie A last season. And this is where the story gets worrying, revealing Preziosi to be arguably the most insecure man in the history of sport.

On the last day of last season’s Serie B campaign, Genoa were at home to Venezia needing a win to be guaranteed promotion. It was the kind of match on which bookmakers do not take bets. Venezia were second from bottom and had been mathematically relegated for weeks. Even if that had not been the case, it would scarcely have mattered; they had filed for bankruptcy, ten first-team regulars were on strike over unpaid wages and the side was filled with youth-team players.

And yet, according to testimony in court, Preziosi felt the need to be extra sure of his team’s chances. A series of wiretaps revealed suspicious conversations between Genoa officials and their Venezia counterparts during the match. Even more telling was the fact that Pino Pagliara, a Venezia director, was arrested by police as he was leaving Preziosi’s offices a few days later. He was carrying a duffel bag stuffed with €250,000(about £170,000) in cash.

Genoa came from behind to win the game 3-2 and, to the judges, it was an open-and-shut case. Preziosi’s defence regarding the money was even more absurd. He claimed that the funds were a downpayment on a Venezia player he was planning to buy (clearly forgetting that buying footballers with cash is illegal). Preziosi received a five-year ban, Genoa’s promotion to Serie A was wiped out, they were demoted to Serie C and slapped with a three-point penalty for the coming season.

At least this was the final, unappealable verdict of the Italian FA’s disciplinary committee. Undeterred, Preziosi sued in a civil court, claiming that he was the victim of a plot and that the Italian FA was biased against him. As evidence, his lawyers rummaged through rubbish bins and found some of the jury’s personal notes, taken during the hearing, which included such gems as “Boy, that Preziosi sure looks like a right idiot” and “Why are we even here? He’s obviously guilty”.

While all this was going on, Genoa’s hardcore supporters were busy rioting in the ancient port’s streets, their nightly demonstrations regularly turning violent. One supporter summed up the general attitude when he said: “Why should we pay for Preziosi’s misdeeds? We deserve Serie A.”

The not-so-subtle point was that, unless Genoa were promoted, their fans would simply smash up everything in sight. A similar threat was made by supporters of Messina, the Serie A club, who blockaded the Sicilian town’s harbour, preventing tens of thousands of tourists from reaching their destinations.

They did have a point, though. Messina were initially denied a Serie A licence because they had paid their tax bill 24 hours late. Reason eventually prevailed and they were let off on appeal. But what is worrying was the club’s explanation for paying the bill late. Pietro Franza, the club’s president, said: “We had the funds available to pay on time but decided not to because we thought other clubs were more delinquent than we were.”

Just across the strait from Messina, another Serie A club, Reggina, were facing accusations that the bank guarantees used to obtain their licence for the new season were fraudulent. This time the inquiry is coming not from the Italian FA — which approved the licence — but from the local fraud squad.

Meanwhile, Torino, winners of the Serie B promotion play-offs, were declared bankrupt and their promotion was cancelled, as was that of Perugia, the club next in line to replace them in Serie A, because they are bankrupt, too.

Thus, Italian football had to go even lower into the depths of Serie B to find two clubs healthy enough to fill the spots vacated by Genoa and Torino in Serie A. Up came Ascoli and Treviso, two clubs who had sold most of their players after last season ended and seemingly had given up on their ambitions of promotion. Now they have to find the funds to build a competitive Serie A team.

The Italian FA’s stance has wreaked havoc, but the general consensus is that if bad habits can be eradicated in the long run it will be worth it. Uefa, European football’s governing body, is pushing hard for a Europe-wide licensing system and it is only a matter of time before it comes into effect. Some say that the measures are too Draconian, but ultimately it is a question of levelling the playing field.

As Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara, the Bologna chairman, put it, it is not much different from drug taking in sport. “People make a big deal out of doping, but this is financial doping,” he said. “If I cook my books, if I don’t pay the taxes I’m supposed to pay, if I keep accumulating debt, I get an unfair advantage over those who play by the rules. Just like doping.”

Italian footy, don't ya just love it

[all_funkt_up]

mad innit, no where else in the world eh.....not passionate - just mad. and they all think they're deniro