Italian football is again under a cloud as more match fixing allegations arise concerning Serie A.
Nineteen arrests have been made in the city of Cremona with Lazio captain Stefano Mauri and former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto also arrested.
Juventus boss Antonio Conte is also under investigation.
A police statement said five people had also been arrested in Hungary on suspicion of being part of an illegal international betting ring headed by Singaporean gambling identity Tan Seet Eng, who was arrested in December.
Searches were conducted at the homes of a number of players, trainers and administrators of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and the lower division Lega Pro on suspicion of involvement in match-fixing on behalf of international criminal organizations.
This morning’s operation was part of “Last Bet”, a wider investigation into match-fixing in Italian soccer which has already seen a number of arrests of current and former Italian players.
In this part of the investigation, indications have emerged of manipulation in matches from the 2010-11 Serie A championship, including games between Lazio and Genoa and Lecce and Lazio,” Raffale Grassi, director of SCO, the police service responsible for the investigation told SkyTG24 television.
In June last year, the Interior Ministry set up a special match-fixing task force in response to a number of high profile cases.
Former Atalanta captain and international midfielder Cristiano Doni, was banned for three-and-a-half years in August for his part in the ‘Calcioscommesse’ match-fixing scandal involving Serie B matches last season.
Atalanta, promoted from Serie B, were deducted six points in the top flight this season as a result of the scandal.
Former Lazio and Italy striker Giuseppe Signori was banned for five years and 15 other players were banned for between one and five years for their part in the same scandal.
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What is wrong with the Italian authorities? Do they not understand that Italian football needs these players and teams? Do they not realise that it is better to allow cheating and corruption for the good of Italian football?
Are you being sarcastic? Hard to tell online, I assume you are.
Well done the Italian authorities for stamping this out. Throw the book at all of them, players are cheating the fans. Fans paying good money to go to a game that already has a predetermined scoreline. Scandalous.
I was working for an online betting company when we seen several bets from Italian customers for Lecce v Lazio 2-2 at Half Time Correct Score and 2-4 at Full Time correct score.
Massive bets that neared the limits of liabilities for those markets – and it was obvious at half time that the 2-4 was coming in.
It’s amazing that they have the brass balls to fix such high profile games and expect to get away with it. I don’t even believe it’s one or two players, the whole teams need to be in on it to fix a 4-2 correct score.
I agree. The Italian league needs a strong Lazio, Genoa, Juventus, Lecce and Atalanta.
How will Inter, AC, Napoli, Fiorentina etc all survive?
Agreed. Surely Burlesconi could come out and speak on this, seeing as he is a vital part of the fabric of Italian society, to say how essential it is that this sort of thing continues. Clearly this has done wonders for italian teams in europe as they chase the big cup.
One would hate to think that should any more details come to light that other parties should be claimed to be at fault. Any investigation into this should take months, the fans should he asked to gather funds and that several media oulets, local businesses and multinational firms should he boycotted in every case to help the game survive
Once again the SFA are left looking like the buffoons they are. This is how to handle corruption in your football leagues! It doesn’t matter who it is, which team they represent, how much money they have, what threats they make to boycott your other games, how many “organizations” are involved, how many goats will be without husbands, etc. What matters is, yes, you guessed it, sporting integrity! I congratulate the Italian FA for handling this as comprehensively as they have. Isn’t it a good thing there is no corruption in Scotland?
5 proplr arrested in hungary. I wonder what nationality martin fulop is. Eather that or he’s an arsenal fan lol!
I think they should be banned for life ! Not just two or three years.
Correct,without a doubt.The govan mob should be finished completely.Any newco should not be allowed to play at ibrox,or train at mucky park,wear blue,or have the same name.It should be a newco entirely.And mucky park and ibrox should be sold off to pay their debts.Its the decent thing to do.Scottish football is finished for me.