By Andrew Warshaw
December 20 – Italian club Napoli are up in arms for being hit with a two-point deduction after becoming the latest Italian club sanctioned for alleged match-fixing.
The punishment announced by the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) Disciplinary Committee relate to a key game between Napoli and Sampdoria on the final day of the 2009-2010 season.
Ex-Napoli goalkeeper Matteo Gianello (pictured top) has been banned for 39 months and teammates Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava were each handed six-month bans for failing to report Gianello’s wrongdoing but the club believe the two-point penalty should not apply to the current campaign.
“We are confident that true justice can be applied to the separate decisions, based on law and equity,” Napoli said in a statement.
“The President Aurelio De Laurentiis, the head coach Walter Mazzarri and the whole team are calm, being confident that no violation could be attributed to Napoli.
“While not entering into the obsolete and outdated principle of objective responsibility, and reserving any comments on legal action for the appropriate forums, Napoli does not agree with the decisions of the National Disciplinary Committee, considering that they should not be able to irretrievably alter championships that are already in progress.
“Any decision must be made before the start of a tournament or at the end of it.
“There has been enough time to evaluate and make a decision since the 2009-2010 season.”
The points deduction leaves Napoli 10 points behind Serie A leaders Juventus and moves them down to fifth from third.
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