July 10 – Two Serie A players have been banned for three months and 10 days and fined €10,000 each in the latest development in Italian football’s long-running match-fixing scandal.
Torino striker Paulo Vitor de Souza Barreto (pictured) and Genoa defender Giovanni Marchese entered plea bargains and were handed the bans by the Italian federation for failing to report alleged match-fixing in a Serie B match between Salernitana and Bari in May 2009. Salernitana won the game 3-2.
Davide Lanzafame, who is currently on loan at Hungarian club Honved from Catania, received a 16-month ban and a €40,000 fine after also entering a plea bargain.
The punishments were issued following investigations into games involving Bari in the 2008-09 Serie B season and the 2010-11 Serie A campaign. The prosecution alleges that players deliberately fixed matches against Sampdoria and Palermo in order to earn €140,000.
Scores of players and officials have been implicated in the scandal over the past few months including Torino and Belgian international goalkeeper Jean-François Gillet, who played for Bari from 2000-2011. The 34-year-old faces charges of sporting fraud and, if found guilty, could face a five-year ban.
Others cited include Bari captain Francesco Caputo and ex-Juventus assistant coach and Bari player Cristian Stellini. Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia and Juventus coach Antonio Conte, who were both with Bari at the time of the alleged offences, have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Conte served a four-month touchline ban last season for failing to report attempted match-fixing while at Siena. He was coach of Bari from 2007-2009.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734831370labto1734831370ofdlr1734831370owedi1734831370sni@w1734831370ahsra1734831370w.wer1734831370dna1734831370