The spectre of match-fixing is back to haunt Italian football. Just one year after Italy won the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Italian football again finds itself in the dock, with 37 people summoned for alleged "sports fraud", committed within the ambit of the match-fixing scandal that rocked Italy last summer.
In essence, this state judicial trial will go over much of the same ground as that already covered by the Italian Football Federation's hastily-mounted disciplinary inquiry last summer. That hearing resulted primarily in the relegation of Juventus from Serie A to Serie B and in the banning of various individuals from professional football.
The federation's inquiry was largely based on evidence from two Naples-based state investigators, Filippo Beatrice and Giuseppe Narducci, who have now concluded their own inquiry, calling for 37 people to stand trial.
Nearly all of the major protagonists in last summer's federation hearing are due to stand trial again - Juventus CEO Antonio Giraudo, the club's managing director Luciano Moggi, referee Massimo De Santis, federation vice-president Innocenza Mazzini as well as Pierluigi Pairetto and Paolo Bergamo, both responsible for refereeing appointments.
The federation hearing last summer ruled that Juventus had benefited from a concerted, season-long "felony", ie the influencing of referees, aimed at ensuring they won the 2004-'05 Serie A title. Juventus were accordingly stripped of their 2005 and 2006 titles, whilst Giraudo and Moggi received five-year bans.
No date has been set for this latest trial which is certain to last years rather than months and will focus on events linked to 29 games in the 2004-'05 season. Although the new trial can have no impact on matters such as Serie A tables and titles, the football federation will be hoping that it confirms their disciplinary rulings of one year ago.
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