By David Gold
November 9 – The Juventus general manager at the time of the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, Luciano Moggi, has been sentenced to five years and four months in prison after being found guilty of sporting fraud and conspiracy by a court in Naples.
The Bianconeri were at the centre of the match fixing storm which engulfed Italian football in the summer of 2006 and were accused of influencing the selection of referees for their Serie A matches.
Juventus won the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles but both were stripped from them after the scandal was uncovered, while the latter was awarded to Internazionale.
The Turin outfit were also relegated to Serie B and have yet to return to the heights they previously enjoyed, though they have made a strong start to the current season.
AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina were all also penalised with points penalties and fines for their respective roles in Calciopoli.
Moggi’s sentence was four months short of what prosecutors in the case had demanded. Also receiving prison terms are the former referee selector, Paolo Bergamo (three years, eight months), and his colleague, Pierluigi Pairetto (23 months), according to ANSA.
The former referee Massimo de Santis and the ex-Italian Football Federation (FIGC) vice-president, Innocenzo Mazzini, were sentenced to 23 and 26 months in jail respectively.
And the owners of Fiorentina, Andrea and Diego Della Valle, as well as the Lazio President, Claudio Lotito, were given 15 month sentences, with the ex-AC Milan executive, Leonardo Meani, handed one year in prison.
Juventus are still in the process of trying to have the 2006 Serie A crown removed from Inter and given back to them or annulled entirely, as happened with the 2005 title, as a result of new evidence coming to light which implicated the Nerazzuri in Calciopoli.
Moggi, who was also banned for life from all football activity earlier this year by the FIGC, will appeal according to one of his lawyers, Maurilio Prioreschi.
“We will definitely appeal and we think with the appeal we can restore what we believe is the truth,” he told Italy’s Sky TV.
Juventus added that they would continue “legitimate legal battles to restore fair treatment.”
Though the Calciopoli affair was the most significant in European football in recent times, this summer a range of punishments were handed out to lower league sides for their roles in a new match fixing affair which revolved around a betting ring seeking to manipulate the results of games.
A total of 17 teams and 17 individuals were punished in total, including two Serie A sides – Atalanta, who were given a six point penalty at the start of the season, and Chievo Verona, who pleaded guilty to avoid such a punishment.
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March 2011: Moggi jail sentence reduced by Rome court