Post by Salem6 on Jun 22, 2006 12:13:29 GMT
Italy's football federation will announce on Thursday the names of any clubs and individuals to be charged over allegations of match-fixing.
President Guido Rossi said the FIGC would make an announcement after the stock market closes at 1630 BST.
Any clubs charged face trial at a sports tribunal in Rome next week and could face bans, fines, relegation or be stripped of any trophies.
Champions Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina have been investigated.
The verdict will coincide with the end of Italy's crucial World Cup match against the Czech Republic.
Italy need at least a draw against the Czechs to guarantee a place in the knock-out phase.
Thirteen of Italy's 23-man World Cup squad play for the four clubs that have come under scrutiny.
Separate criminal prosecutions could follow the FIGC trial which is expected to deliver its verdicts between 7 and 9 July - the weekend of the World Cup final.
12 JUNE
Former Juventus chief executive Antonio Giraudo was questioned by the Italian federation's chief investigator on Monday in connection with the nation's football corruption scandal.
Giraudo resigned, along with the entire board, in the wake of the scandal in May. He and former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi are being investigated for alleging trying to influence referee appointments.
Giraudo and Moggi are also being investigated over allegations that a referee and two linesmen were trapped in a locker room after Juventus lost a match to Reggina in November 2004.
Upon his arrival at the federation's offices in Rome, Giraudo said he would not give comments to reporters either before or after his meeting with top investigator Francesco Saverio Borrelli.
Giraudo's questioning was seen as crucial since Moggi declined to appear before the federation's investigators.
Borrelli, a former Milan prosecutor appointed last month to look into the allegations, said he hopes to wrap up the investigation and present his report by the end of next week.
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THE BACKGROUND
Italian football has been thrown into disarray by the allegations with champions Juventus at the centre of the investigation.
Juve clinched their 29th Italian championship on Sunday 14 May when they beat Reggina 2-0, which ensured they finished three points ahead of rivals AC Milan.
But they are suspected of match-fixing in the 2004/05 season and could even be relegated to Serie B if they are found guilty.
Former Juve general manager Luciano Moggi is at the centre of the scandal after Italian papers published transcripts of calls from 2004 in which he tells referees' chief Pierluigi Pairetto which officials he wants assigned to Juventus games.
The entire Juventus board resigned after recorded telephone conversations between Moggi and high-ranked Italian football federation officials were published in Italian newspapers.
Moggi resigned on Sunday 14 May and he has now been placed under formal investigation for suspected false accounting and tax evasion.
On Thursday 18 May, Italy's financial police searched the club's offices and went through documents in the presence of Turin prosecutor Bruno Tinti.
Ibrahmiovic's house was searched as part of the investigation
The houses of Moggi and former Juve director Antonio Giraudo and those of current players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fabio Cannavaro were also searched.
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has also spoken to investigators in Parma as part of the probe into football gambling.
At an emergency meeting on Friday 19 May, Juventus named Carlo Sant'Albano as their acting managing director until 29 June, when shareholders will decide on a new board.
The Turin club has lost more than 40% of its value since 9 May, before its board resigned, and is now worth about £112m.
In Naples, the Italian football federation will meet with investigators as they began a race against time to conclude their own inquiry in time to enter Italian clubs for next season's Champions League and Uefa Cup.
Meanwhile, AC Milan have denied any wrongdoing after the Corriere della Sera newspaper published phone taps which suggested the club had tried to influence the appointment of referees for their matches.
Milan's lawyer said in a statement the phone taps had been "wrongly interpreted".
Italy coach Marcello Lippi has been given a vote of confidence by Italian football federation commissioner Guido Rossi.
Lippi was questioned for three-and-a-half hours at the end of May as part of an investigation into the dealings of football agents GEA.
Prosecutors were trying to establish whether Lippi was pressured by Moggi to call up certain players, and whether he was in fact influenced.
Moggi's son, Alessandro Moggi, heads GEA World and Lippi's son, Davide Lippi, also works for the agency.
The host of Italy's most popular television football show, Aldo Biscardi, has resigned after allegations he collaborated with Moggi to boost the image of Juventus.
THE INVESTIGATIONS
There are four criminal investigations going on which are linked to the scandal in Italian football. They are in:
NAPLES - This started after the telephone conversations were leaked to the press. The central figure is Luciano Moggi, but magistrates are questioning 41 people after identifying 19 matches which they believe to be suspicious.
ROME - Concerning GEA, the largest company of football agents in Italy with over 220 professional footballers and coaches on their books. It is run by Moggi's son Alessandro.
TURIN - Magistrates are looking into the transfer dealings of Juventus. Moggi and another former Juventus director, Antonio Giraudo, are suspected of falsifying accounts and tax evasion.
PARMA - Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and three former players, Antonio Chimenti, Mark Iuliano and Enzo Maresca, are under investigation for alleged illegal gambling on Serie A matches.
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WIDER IMPLICATIONS FOR ITALIAN FOOTBALL
On Tuesday 16 May, the Italian football federation (FIGC) was placed under administration in response to the crisis which has engulfed the sport in Italy.
Former senator Guido Rossi was named as "extraordinary commissioner" of the beleaguered governing body and the 75-year-old is set to introduce a raft of new legislation to clean up Italian football's reputation.
His appointment came after a week that saw FIGC president Franco Carraro and vice-president Innocenzo Mazzini resign amid allegations that the governing body had allowed Juve to choose referees for their games.
Prosecutors are investigating four Serie A clubs - Juventus, Lazio, AC Milan and Fiorentina - in a match-fixing probe.
A separate probe into illegal betting involves Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who has denied wrongdoing.
More than 40 people have also been ordered by Naples prosecutors to appear for questioning for suspected criminal association.
It is now feared that the new season in Italy will not be able to start on time in August - with some commentators suggesting October might be more realistic.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4993482.stm