Italian Football and its Controversies

Four time Winners of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and recipients of 27 European Football trophies, Italy is one of the world’s leading countries that plays football with the required determination and sportsmanship making it the country’s most loved sport. Italy won the FIFA world cup in 1934, 1938, 1982 and in 2006 which has made it the second best country in Football after Brazil. Brazil’s record stands at 5 FIFA World Cups. Along with its 4 World Cup’s it has also won one European Championship, Olympic Football Tournament, and two Central European International Cups.

There is no doubt that Italy is one of the best known countries world over not only for its fashion, wines, food, religion but also as a country who hold their own when it comes to sports.  Along with the great history that it has with regards to Football there have been several controversies that have also been a part of the game. They have rocked the world of football and upset a number of fans due to its seriousness. Some of them have been the 2006 head butting scandal and the match rigging scandal that also came to light around the same time that is in 2006. The most recent controversy was the 2011 betting and match fixing scandal.   Match fixing and betting scandals are part of most games; it is when these outside the field tactics interfere with the game and its players that the credibility and the seriousness of the sport are questioned.

The 2006 head-butt between two of the world’s most popular players; Macro Meterazzi of Italy and Zinedine Zidane of France was an event in Football history that will forever be spoken about. It started with a match between France and Italy who are very strong rivals, Meterazzi was at the receiving of Zidane’s head butt. Zidane claimed that the head butt was the consequence of an insult thrown at Zidane’s mother and sister. The scenario ended with a two match ban against Meterazzi. 

The 2006 match rigging scandal was another debacle that took the football association by storm. A number of top Italian football clubs like Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio etc were accused of rigging games by forming a sort of network between referee organizations and team managers. The accusations have been made based on the fact that referees have been bought off by the clubs. The rigging happened by selection of suitable referees. The matter came to light when an investigation was made into the Football agency GEA World. During the football season of 2004-2005 the club Juventus that was a part of the GEA World was in the middle of the entire controversy. The club manager Luciano Moggi was reported to be having conversations with football associations with a view to influence the selection of referees. Most of the clubs including Juventus, AC Milan etc were Serie ‘A’ teams which means that they were the country’s top clubs. Due to the scandal as a means of punishment the Serie ‘A’ clubs were brought down in the category of Serie ‘C’ clubs which is in fact a huge blow as it takes a several points and hard work for a team to be considered a Serie A team. The punishment was totally valid as it was still a matter of doubt as to the how the club had reached its the Serie A position, there were serious questions as to whether they were on top because of hard work or because of the rigging of the games. Two of the clubs titles were also stripped off along with a fine of 68,000 Euros. The move of the clubs to Serie C affected the future of the team a great deal. Many players resigned and sort to move to other leagues like the English Premier League (EPL) and the Spanish Premier League La Liga. Other clubs like Lazio, Fiorentina, and Reggina lost out on their points. The scandal came to be known as the Moggiopoli after the clubs infamous manager Luciano Moggi. Today after 6 whole years the club Juventus has once again reached its top position of being termed as Serie ‘A’ team.

After the intensity of such a scandal one would pitch it to be a sort of point of reference for the future. One would look at it as being the low that no club or football team would ever want to be it. But in the midst of it all a similar scandal broke yet again. Early 2011 seen the wake of another match fixing and betting scandal. The Police investigation have led to a circle of current and recently retired players that are supposedly the center of the crime. The scandal began with the allegation that the drinks of the players were spiked which in turn led them to perform badly and a number of the players also fell ill during the game. The Police also claim that several famous players are part of the scandal yet again. One of Italy’s most loved player and a Captain to the club that was part of the 2006 scandal Giuseppe Signori is also said to be part of the controversy. However the investigations into the matter are still in session.

It is also worth noticing that Scandals like these have never before it the world of Football.

One would think that some of the best players and football teams have reached their top spots due hard work, great players and the will power to get to the top but it is when scandals like these come into the picture that the credibility of the whole sport is highly questioned. Italian Football has definitely come under the scanner after these controversies and has affected the world’s view on how much of sportsmen ship they actually show.