(ANSA) - Rome, July 26 - Former Italy players Giuseppe
Signori and Cristiano Doni were among 19 players, coaches and
managers cited Tuesday for suspected match-fixing for betting
scams in Italian soccer.
Signori and another 10 people are suspected of "conspiracy
to commit illicit actions" while Doni and another seven were
cited for a single Serie B match last season, Atalanta vs
Piacenza, after irregular betting patterns were seen.
Two Serie A clubs, Atalanta and Chievo, and three Serie B outfits, Ascoli, Verona and Sassuoli, were among 16 teams also cited by the Italian soccer federation's sporting prosecutor on the basis of findings of a criminal probe that last month saw Signori and more than a dozen others briefly detained by police. On his release from jail on June 14, Signori denied all knowledge of any scam. Signori was among 16 people arrested June 1 after criminal prosecutors said they had ''important and irrefutable'' evidence that results in Serie B and lower leagues were manipulated this year, while 28 others were put under investigation. The retired former Lazio and Bologna forward, Serie A's eighth top scorer of all time with 188 goals and a member of the Italy side that reached the 1994 World Cup final, is suspected of being a ''central element of a group of Bologna betters'' involved in the alleged scam, police said. In response to the probe, the government has set up a match-fixing task force, five years after Turin giants Juventus were relegated to Serie B in a separate affair. UEFA President Michel Platini has praised Italian authorities for targeting betting-related match-fixing after a raft of cases emerged in various countries around the world. Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Giancarlo Abete has said sporting justice ''must have the strength and capacity'' to complete its proceedings into the alleged wrongdoing before the start of next season. Among other things, the scandal threatens Atalanta and Siena's promotion to the top flight as both sides' games are being investigated.
The clubs deny any wrongdoing. In at least one case, police suspect players may even have been given sedatives to affect their performances as part of the efforts to fix the results. The probe was opened after players for third-tier Cremonese fell ill last year allegedly after their former goalkeeper Marco Paoloni spiked their drinks with sleeping drops before a game. Paoloni was among those cited by the FIGC prosecutor Tuesday. FIGC's sporting court has yet to set a date to hear the prosecutor's findings. In the criminal probe, the people under investigation include Doni, longtime captain of Atalanta, and former Sampdoria defender Stefano Bettarini, both of whom have Italy caps. The 2006 scandal was different, as it regarded alleged attempts by some clubs to arrange compliant referees for matches and betting was not thought to have been involved. In addition to relegation, Juventus were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles, and four other clubs, AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina, were handed points deductions. The criminal trial into that affair is reaching its final stages in Naples, where prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of five years and eight months for the alleged ringleader, former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi. Some pundits have found analogies between the current scandal and a major betting case known as Totonero that shook Italian soccer in 1980, in which future World Cup 1982 hero Paolo Rossi and several other top players were banned. photo: Signori
Two Serie A clubs, Atalanta and Chievo, and three Serie B outfits, Ascoli, Verona and Sassuoli, were among 16 teams also cited by the Italian soccer federation's sporting prosecutor on the basis of findings of a criminal probe that last month saw Signori and more than a dozen others briefly detained by police. On his release from jail on June 14, Signori denied all knowledge of any scam. Signori was among 16 people arrested June 1 after criminal prosecutors said they had ''important and irrefutable'' evidence that results in Serie B and lower leagues were manipulated this year, while 28 others were put under investigation. The retired former Lazio and Bologna forward, Serie A's eighth top scorer of all time with 188 goals and a member of the Italy side that reached the 1994 World Cup final, is suspected of being a ''central element of a group of Bologna betters'' involved in the alleged scam, police said. In response to the probe, the government has set up a match-fixing task force, five years after Turin giants Juventus were relegated to Serie B in a separate affair. UEFA President Michel Platini has praised Italian authorities for targeting betting-related match-fixing after a raft of cases emerged in various countries around the world. Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Giancarlo Abete has said sporting justice ''must have the strength and capacity'' to complete its proceedings into the alleged wrongdoing before the start of next season. Among other things, the scandal threatens Atalanta and Siena's promotion to the top flight as both sides' games are being investigated.
The clubs deny any wrongdoing. In at least one case, police suspect players may even have been given sedatives to affect their performances as part of the efforts to fix the results. The probe was opened after players for third-tier Cremonese fell ill last year allegedly after their former goalkeeper Marco Paoloni spiked their drinks with sleeping drops before a game. Paoloni was among those cited by the FIGC prosecutor Tuesday. FIGC's sporting court has yet to set a date to hear the prosecutor's findings. In the criminal probe, the people under investigation include Doni, longtime captain of Atalanta, and former Sampdoria defender Stefano Bettarini, both of whom have Italy caps. The 2006 scandal was different, as it regarded alleged attempts by some clubs to arrange compliant referees for matches and betting was not thought to have been involved. In addition to relegation, Juventus were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles, and four other clubs, AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina, were handed points deductions. The criminal trial into that affair is reaching its final stages in Naples, where prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of five years and eight months for the alleged ringleader, former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi. Some pundits have found analogies between the current scandal and a major betting case known as Totonero that shook Italian soccer in 1980, in which future World Cup 1982 hero Paolo Rossi and several other top players were banned. photo: Signori
