Entire Juventus board resigns

[Guest Kliq Masterson]

It wouldn't suprise me if nothing comes of this. But I'm optimistic. It's largely assumed among the Italian press that they're as good as on the way out now.

I really hope so. And I've noticed the distinct lack of Johnny Pefect/Dirty Johnny...someone get him in here now to blindly defend his cheating team.

[TMM]

It wouldn't suprise me if nothing comes of this. But I'm optimistic. It's largely assumed among the Italian press that they're as good as on the way out now.

I really hope so. And I've noticed the distinct lack of Johnny Pefect/Dirty Johnny...someone get him in here now to blindly defend his cheating team.

To give you an idea of things, Romano Prodi (Italy's new PM) was quoted as saying he believed Juventus should and will be relegated and punished as fully as possible.

As for JP, I'm sure Chelsea will welcome him with open arms. They're winning more than Man Utd nowadays.

He could always just float between whoever is top of the league at that time...maybe he also supports that Barcelona? Bayern?

[gunnar hendershow]

The thing is, I have a sickening feeling that SOMEHOW they'll get off with the footballing equivalent of a very hard slap on the wrist. I can't see them getting relegated, which they really should be. They should get the full massive fine, get relegated and have any recent trophies taken away. But Italian football has always been known to not really care for the rules. Would it really surprise anyone if they manage to "get away with it", or at the very least get off lightly?

Not really similar, but when Fiorentina went into administration they had to sell their name and couldn't use their kit color and were relegated to the bottom of the bottom league. Then a club in Serie B goes into administration, and Fiorentina miraculously get chosen to replace them and everything goes on like nothing happened (I'm going from memory, but that's mostly right...right?.

From Wikipedia:

2001 heralded major changes for Fiorentina, as the terrible state of the club's finances was revealed; they were unable to pay wages and had debts of around USD 50 million. The club owner, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, was able to raise some more money, but even this soon proved to be insufficient resources to sustain the club. Then, Fiorentina were relegated at the end of the 2001-2002 season and went into judicially controlled administration in June 2002. This form of bankruptcy (sports companies cannot exactly fail in this way in Italy, but they can suffer a similar procedure) meant that the club was refused a place in Serie B for the 2002-2003 season, and as a result, effectively ceased to exist.

The club was promptly re-established in August 2002 as Florentia Viola with a new owner, Diego Della Valle, and was admitted into Serie C2, one of the lower tiers in Italian football. The only player to remain at the club as they began their new life was Angelo Di Livio, whose commitment to the cause of resurrecting the club further endeared him to the fans. Helped by Di Livio, the club won it's regional section in Serie C2 with considerable ease at the end of the 2002-2003 season, which would normally have led to a promotion to Serie C1. However, due to the bizarre Caso Catania (Catania Case) the club skipped Serie C1 and was admitted into Serie B. This was only possible because the Italian Football Federation chose to resolve the Catania situation by increasing the number of teams in Serie B from 20 to 24. In the 2003 off-season, the club also bought back the right to use the Fiorentina name and the famous shirt design, and re-incorporated itself as ACF Fiorentina. Matches were still being played at the Artemio Franchi stadium.

The club's unusual double promotion was not without controversy, with some suggesting that Fiorentina did not deserve it; however, the club remained in Serie B and managed to finish the 2003-2004 season in sixth place. This achievement placed the Viola in a two-legged playoff against Perugia (the 15th-place finisher in Serie A) for a position in Serie A. Fiorentina completed their remarkable comeback by winning the match 2-1 on aggregate, with both goals scored by Enrico Fantini, to gain promotion back to Serie A. In their first season back in Italian football's top flight, the club struggled to avoid relegation, securing survival only on the last day of the season, and avoiding a relegation playoff only on head-to-head record against Bologna and Parma. So far in 2005-06, their form has greatly improved, and they are currently in contention for a Champions League place. The combination of Jorgensen, Fiore and Toni with Frey in between the sticks has proved to be dominant with Toni himself having scored 30 goals so far - which sees him currently leading the race for the European Golden Boot.

[TMM]

See? Dodgy Italians...

[The Kraig]

I feel sorry for the fans. They'll suffer the most because of this. And it's not evn their fault, this time.

[ClaRK! Kent]

Clearly, suicide is their only option.

[Guest Ringo Mars]

FOUR CLUBS TO STAND TRIAL.

Juventus, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina have been ordered to stand trial over match-fixing allegations.

Italian football federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi confirmed the four clubs will face questions over match-fixing allegations and demotion is a likely outcome if found guilty.

The scandal broke when Italian newspapers published transcripts of telephone conversations between senior FIGC officials and Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi discussing refereeing appointments.

Palazzi did not divulge the names of individuals, but said a number of sports figures would also be ordered to stand trial in the sports court.

"Stefano Palazzi has announced 30 people or clubs, including Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina for violations of articles 1 and/or 6 of the sporting code of ethics," the federation announced in a statement.

The announcement was made after the closure of the Milan stock market, where three of the four clubs are listed, as officials were keen to lessen the prospect of flash trading in the shares.

Italy's national side qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup on Thursday and 13 of the squad play for the four clubs involved. No players are thought to be involved in the scandal.

The trial is due to start next Wednesday at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, with the Italian federation keen to reach a conclusion in early July - allowing for the authorities and clubs to plan for next term.

Edited June 22, 2006 by Ringo Mars

[therockbox]

Fiorentina again? Weren't they done for something similair a couple of seasons ago?

[Guest Ringo Mars]

Yeah, Fiorentina were even relegated to Serie C1 and bumped up to Serie B in some sort of scam.

[Guest muddatrucker]

Bwahaha, fantastic.

[Lowerdeck]

Wow, that sucks. But well, they'll be back soon enough. With rosters like that to be in the top Italian league, they'll quickly climb up the ladder.

[Turbo Yannis]

Fuck Juve, Milan and Lazio. But please, Italian FA, be nice to Fiorentina

A bigger boy made them do it

[Guest muddatrucker]

Thats the thing, all their good players will fuck off to other teams.

[Guest Ringo Mars]

Wow, that sucks. But well, they'll be back soon enough. With rosters like that to be in the top Italian league, they'll quickly climb up the ladder.

[Turbo Yannis]

One (of many) good things to come from all this, Inter Milan might actually win the league sometime soon

Edited June 22, 2006 by Turbonegro

[Guest Ringo Mars]

One (of many) good things to come from all this, Inter Milan might actually win the league sometime soon

Edited June 22, 2006 by Ringo Mars

[Lowerdeck]

MLS ... need good players? Sign some of these guys.

[Guest muddatrucker]

That'd be career suicide.

[Lowerdeck]

Most definitely yes. They need some trailblazers though, perhaps the shit players on these clubs.

[Guest muddatrucker]

Still, even the youth team or the reserve team would be shooting themselves in the foot, you'd rarely see a good european player play outside of europe because it'd be a terrible decision.