Growing scandal threatens to overwhelm Italian football

Italian Football Federation president Franco Carraro, in September 2004. Italian football was plunged into crisis as Serie A giants Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were formally placed under investigation for alleged match-fixing.

Italian football was plunged into crisis as Serie A giants Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were formally placed under investigation for alleged match-fixing.

Magistrates in Naples said 41 people, including Serie A directors, Italian football federation (FIGC) officials, referees and a journalist would be called in for questioning.

Investigators suspect 19 Serie A matches played last season were suspicious.

The crisis comes just four weeks before Italy launch their bid to win the World Cup in Germany.

Juventus general director Luciano Moggi, who is at the centre of another investigation by the FIGC for alleged collusion in the appointment of referees, will be quizzed in Naples on May 15.

The house of Franco Carraro, who quit as FIGC president on Monday and whose name is also on the list of 41, was raided by police on Friday. Police also raided the FIGC offices in Rome.

"This situation is terrible," said former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns AC Milan.

Newly-elected Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi was equally horrified.

"This is a serious situation, a storm that has stirred up the emotions of the whole country," he said.

"Don't forget in a short time, the national team will be heading off to Germany for the World Cup and we are in crisis."

The scandal that has dragged Italian football through the mud exploded after transcripts of telephone conversations involving Juventus board members Moggi and Antonio Giraudo with high-ranked FIGC officials were leaked to the press last week.

In the conversations, part of an inquiry by Turin prosecutors, Moggi tells Pierluigi Pairetto, head of the Italian referees' association and a member of the UEFA's referees' commission, which referees he would like assigned to certain Serie A and Champions League matches.

Giraudo and Pairetto are also on the Naples prosectors' list of 41 names. On Thursday the entire Juventus board resigned over the phone tap scandal.

A policeman stands in front of Juventus' headquarter in Turin. Italian football was plunged into crisis as Serie A giants Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were formally placed under investigation for alleged match-fixing.

In another development on Friday, Italian media reported that one current and three former players were being investigated by Turin and Parma prosecutors for alleged illegal gambling on Serie A matches.

The prosecutors are also looking into the movements of large amounts of money in seven different bank accounts. One player is believed to have gambled 600,000 euros in one year.

The current Juve player said to be under the spotlight is a regular Italy international, while two of the former players are playing for different clubs in Serie A. The fourth man reported to be involved is playing outside of the country.

Under FIGC rules, registered players are not permitted to gamble on matches in their own championship. Players found guilty of breaking the rule face bans of anywhere between three months and three years.

Serie A has a history of match-fixing spanning 26 years. In 1980, AC Milan president Felice Colombo and players from Lazio, Avellino, Perugia, Genoa and Lecce were arrested for match-fixing.

AC Milan and Lazio were both relegated from Serie A for their part in the scandal. In 1986, points were deducted from Udinese, Lazio, Foggia, Palermo, Triestina and Cagliari for their involvement in match-fixing.

In 2000, a fixed match between Atalanta and Pistoiese resulted in the arrests of several players, while two years ago Modena were deducted points and several players were given lengthy bans for the same offence.