Moggiopoli: The Great Soccer Scandal of 2006

Luciano Moggi (Photo from calciojuventus.net)

In 1980, Italian soccer experienced a black period when it was embroiled in a scandal about gambling. Many thought that those dark times were over, ended by the World Cup win of 1982 and the advent of more professional athletes and team officials. They were wrong. Right before the World Cup of 2006 a major scandal shook Italian soccer right to its very core, changing the landscape in a very dramatic way.

Juventus is the most successful team in Italian history and were enjoying back-to-back championships in 2006. The Fiat-owned team not only had a long and storied history, but also a lengthy roster of star players at the disposal of coach Fabio Capello. The team was run by three managers (The Triade: Giraudo, Moggi and Bettega), who for over 10 years had led Juventus to win over and over again in Italy and internationally.

As the season drew to a close the accusations surfacing against Juventus were strong and serious. The team was charged with fixing referee assignments and Moggi was also said to have a system for selecting referees for games played with other teams, always with an eye to favoring Juventus. When the news broke it was like a bomb going off in the Italian soccer world, suddenly everything was a suspect and the game so many loved appeared tainted. At the same time former Juventus coach Marcello Lippi was assembling his World Cup squad in the middle of a media firestorm.

The roots of the scandal can be found in the taping of phone calls between Luciano Moggi and Mr. Bergamo, the man in charge of assigning referees to games and a former referee himself. All the conversations were made available by Telecom Italia, who is the co-owner of Inter Milan and also the only official sponsor of both Serie A and the Italian Cup, the top league and the national cup tournament, respectively. The phone conversations were not linked to the 2006 season, but rather the previous season that ended with Juventus as champion, A.C. Milan in second place and Inter Milan in third.

Luciano Moggi :"Anima Mia", la clip di Rubecentus dedicata a Lucianone Moggi.

Although they started with Juventus the accusations quickly spread and soon A.C. Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were embroiled in the events. It is important to note that for the Italian soccer judiciary system it is enough to have a suspicion of wrongdoing, which is enough to penalize a team. This system is not related or connected to the actual legal system that governs the country and implements Italian law. In other words, Juventus, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were facing a "private" trial within the soccer federation itself. 

Since the head of the federation was also accused, he resigned and Mr. Rossi became the appointed and temporary president. To most Mr. Rossi was an unknown lawyer, but in reality he was the official attorney of Inter Milan, who strongly defended the team a few years earlier when Inter was accused of issuing fake passports to players so they would be able to play for the team (at the time no more than 5 foreigners were allowed to play on any given team.) The first thing Mr. Rossi did was to take away the 2005 title from Juventus, and since A.C. Milan was also implicated, assigned the title to Inter Milan. Meanwhile the federation trial concluded that Juventus had to be relegated to the second division with the addition of a point penalty, while Lazio, Milan and Fiorentina could remain in Serie A, but would be carrying point penalties as well. Because Juventus had been relegated their 2006 scudetto was also revoked but this time was not reassigned. 

The scandal caused Juventus to lose some of its best players and Inter to become the undisputed soccer power in Italy (and as of this spring, also Europe). As with many things in Italy what really happened and who the guilty parties are is still murky, although the appointment of Mr. Rossi didn't help to clear the air. Imagine if an attorney for the Red Sox is appointed head of the MLB and decides to take a World Series title away from the Yankees and give it to the Red Sox instead, sending the Yankees to play in the minors for one year. After his rapid appearance as the president of the league, Mr. Rossi became the president of Telecom Italia, the co-owners of Inter Milan and sponsors of the league. 

Despite the scandal Italy won the World Cup in 2006 and now Moggi, who has been banned from soccer, is currently facing trial under Italian law, a sign that there was evidence of wrongdoing even if not all the circumstances are crystal clear.