The Italian courts are still dealing with the fallout from Calciopoli, and now Antonio Giraudo, former director at Juventus, has been sentenced to three years in prison for his part in the 2006 match-fixing scandal that rocked Italian soccer (you know, before they surged to lift the World Cup that summer). It’s a sentence that he and three others found guilty will likely never serve thanks to the appeals process and the lack of prior criminal convictions, but the rulings represent what should be the end of a sordid affair and a particularly dark moment in the sport’s history (though winning the World Cup 2 months after the scandal broke definitely helped ease the pain).
For those who don’t recall, Calciopoli was the catchy name given to some shady, shady business between Italy’s top clubs that found them selecting favorable referees to preside over games and thus ensure desired outcomes to benefit the league’s most powerful teams. Police wiretaps intercepted thousands of phonecalls between various club directors from Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina, and Lazio, all of whom saw demotions to Serie B or Serie C1, hefty fines, suspensions and bans for their roles in the conspiracy.
see, if it happened in the US, they would have called it “SoccerGate” or something equally ridiculous. I like Calciopoli. It gives me a mental picture of Silvio wearing a monocle and driving around in an old 20s roadster.
With a 15 year old model.
If you’re imagining it, chances are Silvio’s already done it.