Juventus 'accept Serie B' Wednesday 5 July, 2006
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Juventus’ lawyer told the Calciopoli trial that the best punishment for the club would be Serie B rather than a drop down to the Third Division.
“Demotion to Serie B with docked points would be a congruous punishment,” Cesare Zaccone claimed in court this evening.
Yesterday prosecutor Stefano Palazzi requested the Bianconeri go down to “a Division lower than Serie B” with a six-point penalty for their part in the match-fixing allegations. He also asked for Lazio and Fiorentina to begin with a 15 point penalty in Serie B, where they’d be joined by Milan on minus three points.
Director general Luciano Moggi is at the centre of the scandal after his telephone conversations were wiretapped, allegedly attempting to influence the referees assigned to their matches.
“You can’t talk about direct responsibility for Juventus, as Moggi has never been a legal representative of the club,” added the lawyer today. “I also believe that Antonio Giraudo should only be considered indirectly responsible for any wrong-doing. The only issue here is the seriousness of the facts, which in my view should be largely re-evaluated.”
The Turin giants are attempting to distance themselves from Moggi, who has already resigned from his post, and rescue the situation as best they can.
“The sanction requested by the prosecutor would devalue the squad by 80 per cent. As the trial continues, 79 per cent of the club’s income is in danger. Juventus do not have a single benefactor behind the side willing to invest money.”
Much has been made in the run-up to the trial of the so-called ‘Moggi system’, but lawyer Zaccone attempted to spread the blame.
“There were at least five different systems going on in football. One was created in Genoa, another in Florence, then in Rome which included leading figures in the Federation and another system working in Milan. All of them were opposed and conflicting. This is all that’s needed to explain why the idea of a Mafia-like total system involving everyone is impossible.”
Lazio President Claudio Lotito and Fiorentina patron Diego Della Valle also spoke at the trial today. Both insisted they were “victims of the system” rather than orchestrators and that they had never requested favours from referees.
Former FIGC President Franco Carraro spoke out this morning. “The accusation of sporting fraud levelled at me is humiliating and vile. I acted in good faith and have never cheated anyone. If the facts are confirmed, then something very serious happened in the 2004-05 season.” |
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