Calciopoli - Why Are We Still Talking About It?

The 'Calciopoli scandal' which broke out in the summer of 2006 ravaged Italian football, but three years on it is still a burning issue for some.

Luciano Moggi, the ex-Juventus director claimed today that he has proof that Calciopoli was a conspiracy. This is not the first time that Moggi has made pleas for his innocence and it doesn't seem that it would be the last either.

The Calciopoli scandal caused great damage to the reputation of Italian football which seems to be still recovering from its aftershocks. Juventus were relegated to SerieB and as a result a host of talent departed from the team.

However what hurt the Bianconeri more was the fact that their Scudetti for 2004-05 and 2005-06 were revoked and the latter was presented to Inter. This left a highly bitter taste in Juve's mouth, something they haven't managed to spit out yet.

Moggi and a few directors almost immediately after the scandal was revealed and received varying sentences for their involvement. Juve weren't the only team punished as Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio incurred varying penalties.

However it was Juventus who were deemed to be at the center of the scandal and hence they were the only team to be demoted to SerieB.


Aftermath of the Scandal

Following Juve's conviction there was a new regime in charge at the club and it did its best to distance itself from Moggi and Co. But then a few months later things started turning around.

There were always conspiracies that Inter president, Massimo Moratti was the one behind the whole crackdown. People believed that Inter's lack of success in the SerieA had led Moratti to take this extreme step.

They would add further credence to their story as the FIGC chairperson at the ruling would later became an Inter director. Similarly, the phone taps were conducted by TIM a major sponsor of the Nerazzuri.

Inter on the other hand truly benefitted from the scandal as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Viera joined their ranks after quitting Juventus. The former went on to become a talisman for the club until his departure this summer.

So Inter definitely had a motive to see the downfall of their great rivals. But what about the proof?

The Proof

This is where things start getting really murky as there are conflicting reports about the proof that was brought forth. against Juve . While the conspiracy theorists claim that there was no substantial evidence the prosecutors seemed convinced at the time.

The same Juve board which so eagerly suspended Moggi and denied their part in the scandal started backing his claims. Moggi himself was his ever expressive self and the Italian media continued to give him airtime.

Accusations started flying around and then demands for the revoked Scudetti to be returned. The proof for all of this was never presented and hasn't been till date.

Soon enough almost everyone jumped on the bandwagon to support Moggi's allegations. It seemed that the man convicted for manipulating matches, paying off referees was suddenly the man to be followed.

'It Is All A Conspiracy'

And now Moggi's claims of the whole thing being a conspiracy and him having evidence to prove so. 'Why this proof was not brought forth before?' is a question which just begs to be asked. But no one seemingly wants to ask it.

The problem is now no longer restricted to Moggi as almost every Juve fan will try to convince you of his team's innocence. Innocent or not, the sad part is that they still choose to talk about three years after the incident.

While most of the team management and players have put it behind them, the supporters are still struggling to come to grips with the incident. Everytime Calciopoli is mentioned the fans forget about everything else and rush to defend their club.

The reaction is obviously understandable but isn't it time that they start concentrating on prevailing issues at the club. Whenever Juve have a bad run of form, the fans generally choose to blame Calciopoli and Moggi's consequent absence rather than the current management.

This year Juve did well in the transfer market and brought in some real talent in the form of Diego, Felipe Melo and Fabio Grosso. The first two started the season well but have started to struggle of late.

On Sunday the team suffered its third loss of the season in a surprise 2-0 defeat at Cagliari. The result which followed a 2-0 defeat at Bordeaux meant that the team slipped into third place.

A New Era Undermined

The constant attention that the media and the public give to Moggi is undermining the work of the new Juventus dynasty. Cobolli Gigli, the latest Juve president, also spoke about the revoked Scudetti rather than the way forward when he bid adieu to the club this October.

It is time now that everyone moves forward from the Calciopoli scandal and restricts it to the confines of history. It has done enough damage to Italian football as is.

Last year saw the league recorded some of its poorest attendance in years and not a single Italian team made it past the Round of 16 in the Champions League. The once dominant league today is a shadow of its former self.

The other teams who were implicated in the scandal have done rather well most noticeably Fiorentina. The team today is the only Italian team to have made it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a game in hand.

This year there is a very real possibility that four Italian teams will make it to the knockout stages. Now they should capitalize on this opportunity to regain some of the lost pride for the league.

As for the fans there is only one way to go for them and that is forward. Lingering in the past is not going to help anyone and it is time that they start ahead.