Prodi admits radical reform is needed

Paddy Agnew reports on the Italian match-fixing controversy

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi used last night's Germany v Italy semi-final in Dortmund as an opportunity to mix diplomatic niceties with some realpolitik, the latter intended for strictly domestic consumption. In essence, said Prodi, the Italian team's success does not hide the fact Italian football is in dire need of radical reform. Prodi, who attended the game in Dortmund, opted to mark the occasion by writing an open letter to his hostess, German chancellor Angela Merkel.

After thanking her for the invitation to the game, Prodi went on to praise Germany and Germans for the wonderful atmosphere and perfect organisation of these World Cup finals.

Italy's football rivalry with Germany is very special, said Prodi, one that conjures up some great games such as the 1970 World Cup semi-final in Mexico and the 1982 final in Spain. Yet, Germany is much more than just a worthy football opponent, said the prime minister, it is also a "point of reference, politically and socially" for Italy.

While acknowledging the current Italian team has borne witness to the best Italian qualities such as "skill, flair and hard work", Prodi also drew attention to the ongoing match-fixing investigation in Rome when saying, "The national team is always a huge unifying factor for the country. Certainly, though, we know that Italian football has serious problems. Tonight's game does not wipe out those problems, nor can it overshadow the allegations of criminal behaviour thrown up (by the match-fixing investigation). Italian football is in need of profound reforms."

The apparent need for such radical reform was dramatically underlined in Rome yesterday on the third day of the Football Federation's match-fixing hearing.

Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi asked for champions Juventus to be relegated to Serie C (3rd Division) or lower and for them to be stripped of both their 2005 and 2006 league titles. Likewise, the prosecutor asked for Fiorentina, Lazio and AC Milan to be relegated to Serie B (2nd Division) while he has also called for five-year-to-life bans for many of the 25 defendants.

In making his formal sentence requests, magistrate Palazzi outlined the prosecution's basic thesis, namely that a group of influential clubs, club officials, football federation officials, referees and linesmen combined to systematically fix not just matches but entire seasons. Juventus was the club that most benefited from a system that was also used to help out the other clubs - Fiorentina, for example, receiving favourable treatment at the end of last season in order to avoid relegation from Serie A: "The real purpose (of this system) was to set up favourable refereeing from which all four clubs from time to time benefited, even if Juventus was the club which benefited most.The sophisticated nature of the system can be deduced from the calls that referees made in dubious cases. This has to be looked at very closely.

"The malicious nature of the system can be gauged from the way everything was done to make sure that public opinion never suspected favouritism. This was done through the media by Luciano Moggi (ex-Juventus director) himself."

Inevitably, the harsh sentences called for by the prosecutor did not please everyone, with Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the opposition and owner of AC Milan, describing himself as "astonished and outraged by the prosecution's requests", adding: "Milan has never had any favours from referees. Indeed, on the contrary, we were often the victims of refereeing in favour of other clubs. This request has a political motivation and design that are absolutely unacceptable in sport."

The match-fixing scandal first broke in May when leaked transcripts of phone conversations between Moggi and various club and federation officials appeared in Italian newspapers. In the wake of the public outrage prompted by the leaked phone calls, the Juventus board was sacked, one of Italy's two designated World Cup referees, Massimo De Santis, was withdrawn from the tournament and the football federation president, Franco Carraro, and his vice-president Innocenzo Mazzini both resigned, being replaced by special commissioner Guido Rossi.

Commissioner Rossi hopes the current hearing will wind up its work and deliver definitive verdicts by the end of July in time to allow Italy name its club representatives in the Uefa and Champions League competitions, as well as draw up the fixture lists for next season.