The 2011 Italian football scandal emerged on 1 June 2011 after a number of football-related figures were arrested, or made under official scrutiny, by Italian police for alleged matchfixing. The list included also well-known figures as former Italian international footballer Giuseppe Signori, as well as former Serie A players Mauro Bressan, Stefano Bettarini and Atalanta veteran striker Cristiano Doni. The group was accused of having fixed a wide range of Serie B, Lega Pro Prima Divisione and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione games.
Contents
- Involved figures
- Potential consequences
- First degree sentences
- Clubs
- People
- Appeal
- Court of Final Appeal
- Juve Stabia Sorrento match fixing
- Second investigation December 2011
- Sentences
- Sentences September
- Third investigation March 2012
- References
The inquiry started following a denunciation from Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Cremonese, instigated by internal suspicions involving first team goalkeeper Marco Paoloni, who was successively sold to Benevento in January 2011.
The scandal is also known as Operation: Last Bet, Calcio Scommesse ("Football Bet") or Scommessopoli ("Bet City").
Involved figures
Interestingly, some of the involved persons were already been inquiried or condemned for similar charges: Cristiano Doni was acquitted in 2000, whereas Vincenzo Sommese (in 2007) and Stefano Bettarini (in 2005) were disqualified for six months due to illegal betting.
Potential consequences
Following the inquiries and its direct developments, media speculated about the possibility that Atalanta and Siena might lose their right to play Serie A in 2011–12. Atalanta's situation is considered particularly delicate due to the direct involvement of Cristiano Doni in the matchfixing process, whereas Siena is accused of having paid Sassuolo players in order to obtain a win by more than three goals (game ended 4–0); Sassuolo itself, together with Ascoli, Padova and Piacenza, are also mentioned in the inquiry, and might be punished by the Federation due to the so-called "objective responsibility" law.
First-degree sentences
On 9 August 2011, the Italian Football Federation announced the first-degree charges for all involved parties in the scandal.
Clubs
People
Appeal
The Corte di Giustizia Federale of Italian Football Federation announced the following appeal.
Court of Final Appeal
The Tribunale Nazionale di Arbitrato per lo Sport of Italian National Olympic Committee announced the following final appeal.
Juve Stabia – Sorrento match-fixing
On 11 October 2011, as part of betting investigation, FIGC announced the ban for match-fixing of Juve Stabia – Sorrento on 5 April 2009. The case was referred to FIGC by Naples criminal court.
Second investigation, December 2011
On 19 December 2011, a new police operation coordinated by the Magistrature of Cremona led to a number of high-profile arrests, including active and former footballers such as Cristiano Doni, Luigi Sartor, Alessandro Zamperini, Nicola Santoni, Carlo Gervasoni and Filippo Carobbio. The inquiry started after Gubbio defender Simone Farina denounced a matchfixing attempt from Zamperini (a former teammate of him at Roma), with following investigation leading the police to unveil a complex gambling system involving criminal figures in Singapore, Eastern Europe and Italy with interest in fixing football games from all over Europe. Both investigations were initiated and helped by abnormal betting flow reports. Those reports were generated and reported to authorities by Austrian bookmaker SKS365.
The scandal then dramatically evolved a few months later: on 28 May 2012, a number of higher-profile players were involved, and the Cremone Magistrature went on to arrest Lazio vice-captain Stefano Mauri, former Genoa captain Omar Milanetto, Cristian Bertani, Paolo Acerbis, Matteo Gritti, Alessandro Pellicori, Ivan Tisci and Marco Turati, whereas José Joelson Inácio was put under house arrest and Kewullay Conteh and Francesco Ruopolo were forbidden to leave the country. More football figures were also put under investigation: among these, Juventus Serie A-winning head coach Antonio Conte (due to alleged failure to report attempted sporting fraud during his period as Siena manager), former Milan star Kakha Kaladze, Genoa striker Giuseppe Sculli (for whom the judge rejected an arrest request), Chievo striker Sergio Pellissier and Italian international Domenico Criscito who was training at Coverciano with the Azzurri team at the time, and was excluded from the UEFA Euro 2012 roster as a consequence.
Shortly after the latest arrests, Premier Mario Monti publicly suggested that football competition in the country be suspended for at least two years. He indicated that this was his personal opinion, not a formal government proposal. The manager of the Italian national team, Cesare Prandelli, said he "would have no problem" if his side were barred from Euro 2012 in the wake of the scandal.
Sentences
The National Discipline Commission (CDN) of Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced the first-degree charges for some involved parties in the scandal, on 31 May and 18 June. On 6 July 2012 "Corte di Giustizia Federale" of FIGC announced the appeal ruling.
Clubs
Sentences - September
On 18 June 2012, FIGC announced that the discipline action against the following players were suspended due to criminal body had started the legal process, the committee resumed the action in September.
Third investigation, March 2012
Followed by the intensive interrogation since March 2012, the authority of Bari and Cremona had referred several players, coaches and clubs to Italian Football Federation for discipline action as the third lot of operation. This included Antonio Conte, by-then Siena coach, Italian internationals Leonardo Bonucci, by-then Bari player, Simone Pepe, by-then Udinese player, Marco Di Vaio, by-then Bologna player.
On 1 August, Conte's plea bargain was rejected. On 10 August 2012 Pepe, Bonucci, Di Vaio and 3 other players as well as Udinese were acquitted. The prosecutor appealed for the innocent of Pepe, Bonucci, Di Vaio and others except Daniele Padelli and Conte also appealed for the ban, however both rejected by the judge. However, Grosseto and the president of the club Piero Camilli were acquitted.