Parma Coach Hector Cuper believes that he knows why Inter missed out on the title under his stewardship in 2002.
The Nerazzurri lost 4-2 on the final day of the season to Lazio, handing the Italian championship to rivals Juventus, who had been six points behind with five games to play.
“I have run over and over the events of that year and I'll say to you one thing - we played against Chievo and Ronaldo was denied a decisive penalty,” said the Argentine.
“The referee was three metres away and pretended not to have seen it. After, I understood why.”
The former Valenica boss is referring to the events of 2006 when Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and a host of other clubs were implicated in a match-fixing scandal.
The 57-year-old tactician also believes his current side Parma are suffering at the hands of referees, but is keen to point out that their errors are honest.
“It's true, they make mistakes, but I don't believe there is a plot. If there was I couldn't go out and Coach every day.”
The Gialloblu were on the end of some terrible decisions against Napoli at the weekend, conceding a dodgy penalty and having three men sent off in a 2-1 defeat.
“There wasn't a penalty, nor was there an expulsion,” fumed Cuper. “If you give a suspicious spot-kick, you shouldn't then pull out a dubious red card.”
Despite the result, which left Parma fourth from bottom, the man who once led Valencia to consecutive Champions League Finals is confident the Crociati can escape relegation.
“I am 100 per cent convinced. If we win our last four games we will not be dependent on anything. This has to give us confidence. Safety for us is worth a Scudetto - the one I didn't win at Inter.”
