Calciopoli Match-Fixing Scandal (2006)

Lore & Background

The scandal first came to light as a consequence of investigations of prosecutors on the Italian football agency GEA World founded by Luciano Moggi's son Alessandro. The leak of news that triggered Calciopoli in May 2006 did not start from the major sports or investigative press but rather 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. Transcripts of recorded telephone conversations suggested that Juventus general director Luciano Moggi and Juventus CEO Antonio Giraudo had conversations with several Italian football officials to influence referee designations during the 2004–05 Serie A season. Notably, referee Roberto Rosetti was among the few referees to emerge unscathed from the scandal; Pierluigi Collina had retired before the 2005-06 season and was never involved or investigated.

In Their Own Story

As the verdict settled over Turin, the squad fractured under the weight of exile. While stars like Thuram and Ibrahimović sought exits, a core group refused to abandon their city. Captain Alessandro Del Piero became the anchor of this rebellion, publicly rejecting lucrative offers elsewhere to stay with the club in Serie B. This decision transformed the relegation from an exile into a crusade, turning the locker room into a fortress where loyalty mattered more than status.

Reader's Guide

On 8 May 2006, Franco Carraro resigned from the presidency of the FIGC. Juventus' entire board of directors resigned on 11 May, while Moggi resigned shortly after Juventus won the 2005–06 Serie A championship on 14 May. Massimo De Santis was due to be Italy's refereeing representative at the 2006 World Cup; he was barred by the FIGC after coming under investigation. The scandal drew attention to many potential conflicts of interest within Italian football. In all, magistrates in Naples formally investigated 41 people, and looked into 19 Serie A matches from the 2004–05 season and 14 Serie A matches from the 2005–06 season. The standings of the 2005–06 Serie A championship, which was won by Juventus, were remade to retroactively punish implicated clubs the year prior. This controversially resulted in third-classified Inter Milan being awarded the scudetto by then-FIGC commissioner Guido Rossi after a vote, on whether the title should be assigned by the tre saggi ("Three Sages") Gerhard Aigner, Massimo Coccia, and Roberto Pardolesi, as well as Juventus' relegation, and four other clubs (Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan, and Reggina) received penalty points. Only Aigner voted in favour of the assignation, with Rossi's ultimate decisive push for the assignation. The 2005–06 championship was never investigated, and only the 2004–05 Serie A championship, also won by Juventus, was revoked.

Did You Know?

• The scandal was first discovered during an investigation of doping allegations against Juventus players.
• The term 'Calciopoli' adapts 'Tangentopoli' (Bribesville), used for political corruption scandals in Italy in the early 1990s.
• The first newspaper to report the scandal was Il Romanista, a newspaper dedicated to Roma supporters.
• Referee Roberto Rosetti emerged unscathed from the scandal; Pierluigi Collina had retired before the 2005-06 season and was never involved.