Calciopoli 2006
The Italian football scandal that shook Serie A in 2006.
Calciopoli was a sports scandal that emerged in Italy's professional association football league in 2006. It involved some of the most famous and successful football teams in Italy: Juventus, AC Milan, SS Lazio, ACF Fiorentina, Arezzo and AS Reggina. Media reporting on the scandal labeled it Calciopoli (literally 'Footballville', adapting the term Tangentopoli (Bribesville) that had been used to describe the political corruption scandals in Italy in the early 1990s.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 2006
- Primary outcome
- Scudetto awarded directly to Inter
- Rival penalty
- Juventus relegated to Serie B
- Key figure
- Luciano Moggi (Juventus General Manager)
- Significance
- End of the Juventus dominance era
- Status
- Historical turning point
Lore & Background
The scandal was first discovered by Italian authorities during an investigation of allegations of doping by Juventus players. Transcripts of wiretapped conversations between Juventus's General Manager Luciano Moggi and various officials revealed an elaborate scheme to affect the outcome of matches by influencing referees. The leak of news that triggered Calciopoli in May 2006 came from Il Romanista, a newspaper entirely dedicated to Roma supporters. The first major sport newspaper to anticipate and report the scandal was Milan-based La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Reader's Guide
The scandal drew attention to many potential conflicts of interest within Italian football. Inter Milan provided sponsorship to the Serie A through Gruppo TIM, as Inter Milan vice-president Marco Tronchetti Provera was TIM director. Silvio Berlusconi, Milan's president and owner, was Prime Minister of Italy and owner of TV company Mediaset through Fininvest, while Adriano Galliani, as the vice president and CEO of Milan, also served as the president of Serie A. Juventus has been historically owned by the Agnelli family since the 1930s.
Did You Know?
- Notable referees Pierluigi Collina and Roberto Rosetti were among the few referees to emerge unscathed from the scandal.
- Massimo De Santis was due to be Italy's refereeing representative at the 2006 World Cup but was barred by the FIGC after coming under investigation.
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