The summer of 2006 was a bruising time for Italian football as the Calciopoli scandal rocked the nation. However, painful as the process was, the aftermath of the verdicts brought the refreshing feeling that purgation had taken place. The men who had dragged the name of calcio through the mud were banished from the Empyrean and the game could move on and heal.
Or could it? Over 18 months have passed, but the spectre of main culprit Luciano Moggi still haunts Italy’s newsstands. The ex-transfer guru seems to have an opinion on every issue and amazingly people still want to hear what he has to say. Over the last few weeks, we have had to endure the pantomime villain’s claims that he would have signed Cristiano Ronaldo at Juve, grimace through his ‘expert’ analysis of the Roberto Mancini situation and wince at his deluded take on the Calciopoli scandal.
While Moggi’s inane punditry is galling enough, the true fear is that he may return to playing an active role in the game. After his initial trial, Moggi announced that he didn’t feel football had a place for him anymore and he wouldn’t be back. Yet another questionable statement from the professor of prevarication. Last week, he appealed his five-year ban and Lucky Luciano insists that he will take an active role in football once more, despite seeing his suspension upheld.
Rather than show any remorse for his wrongdoings, Moggi has chosen the solipsistic path and insists that we mere mortals don’t understand what happened at Juve. Maybe so, but we know enough to realise that calcio is a happier place without the likes of Luciano. Any return would undermine everything that has been done to restore faith in Italy’s beloved game.
Maybe he should follow up on his promise that he will enter politics. While Moggi insists that 75 per cent of Juventini would vote for him – a total of around nine million fans – I reckon I could canvas a similar number of signatures on a petition to have him banished to an uninhabited island. Then again, maybe Italian politics is the best place for Moggi, I’m sure a man of his moral fortitude would fit right in.
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A very unprofessional blog article, please stay with British culture since that's what you probably come from. Moggi is respected in italy despite what has happened, simply because he is a genius businessman. And his work will not be forgotten, not everyone surfed the hypocritical wave, simply because there are no evidence against Moggi and Juventus. The phone calls don't prove anything, just personal expression and freedom of speech. And one more thing, don't comment on Italian politics because you obviously don't have a clue about it!
E, Norway
It seems like Paul Watson isn’t informed well enough to write this blog. They have found very new material from Calciopoli and it’s starting to get more and more likely that Juventus and Moggi were guilty of something that actually never happened. Even the referees confirm that they have never had any conversations with Moggi and Co. Lots more evidence has been found, but it doesn’t get enough attention. There has to be a black sheep in every community and it seems like Juventus are the one in Serie A.
Romano
Whosoever has written the article not only dislikes Moggi with intensity, he also has his very own ideas about the notorious Calciopoli and he may very well be a true Inter fan. Please try again, with more respect for the man.
A Baglioni
He has been found guilty of abusing his position for whatever reason. He should be silenced on football matters, but I think it would be difficult due to the media.
F Tanganelli
Speaking as a Juve fan, that was probably the most biased and unfounded editorial I've ever read. To even say: "the aftermath of the verdicts brought the refreshing feeling that purgation had taken place. The men who had dragged the name of calcio through the mud were banished from the Empyrean and the game could move on and heal," shows how litte calcio you have seen this season.
If anything, nothing has been healed in fact more damage and accusations have been inflicted. Im referring to clubs believing that the refs are favouring Inter, which is a valid hypothesis since La Gazetta dello Sport proved that if refs had done their jobs properly Juventus would be leading the table.
Although refs are only human, the decisions they have made which I've seen are nothing short of shocking. Back to the editorial, you have made Moggi out to be the antichrist of football when in fact everything he has said in his defence since Calciopoli has been true. Moggi's so-called influence on refs sure hasn't changed this season as scandalous referee calls are still made today. Perhaps you should write about how Guido Rossi, who ironically was head of the telecoms company that sponsors the league and 'tapped' the calls, later became head of the FIGC and a close friend of Massimo Moratti's and used money and corruption and even pulling powerful judges out of retirement to bring down what was once a successful club in Juventus. This editorial is nothing but an insult to my intelligence and to many of millions of passionate and true Juventini around the world.
Well said. A very good article which sums up the feelings of a great many people. I have to constantly defend Italian football when talking with my fellow football fans in this country. The main accusation is that Italians care more about winning than winning fairly. UK football fans have always given due credit and sometimes even affection to teams that win with a bit of style, playing the game 'the right way'. Perhaps this is the main reason that Italy does not get the credit it deserves for winning the World Cup four times.
Luciano Moggi by his behaviour has proved to the outside world that this ethos does exist and many cannot understand not only why he is constantly quoted today instead of serving a custodial sentence. The fact that he is still being quoted seems to send a message to the outside world that there are many people in Italy who think that there was nothing wrong with his behaviour. That is the wrong message to send out to the outside world. The correspondent was absolutely correct, Luciano Moggi is made for politics.
Brian La Piazza
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