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| [photo by René C. Nielsen] |
- by Debbie Smith, writing from Rome, Italy
This year, a new scandal has emerged in the Italian Calcio. As a new investigation shows matches from Serie B were fixed in order to profit from betting and some Serie A teams are involved as well. The gravity of the situation relies on the fact important figures of Italian football are involved, starting with Beppe Signori, an amazing footballer, with 188 goals scored in Serie A, and names such Francesco Totti and Christian Vieri.
It also taints the promotion of Serie B teams Atalanta and Siena.
As the investigation advances, more details about the network of bets and people involve emerge.
What upsets me about this is that yet again the Italian football image gets tainted. Italy has this infamous reputation of always having players fake injuries, that they are trained divers, that they are cheaters and not familiar with the concept of "fair game". It was helpful to say the least when the Moggigate scandal emerged and they won the world cup, it took some time to regain the trust on the league and the matches, and now, the calcio is hit with another scandal that will cement this idea that italian football = cheating.
As a Serie A devoted fan, it angers me to witness that again, a couple of people that want to gain from illicit activities damage the reputation of the beautiful game. It is sad that people that were admire and played for the nazionale and had a great tally of goals are the ones that want to tangle things and gain in the process. I hope the justice punish this people like it should.
What are your thoughts regarding this drama?
