The inevitable Serie A scandal verdict was released on Friday, July 14, 2006, and while it was a nightmare for some, it also, became a source of satisfaction for others. Sending big name teams like Juventus, Fiorentina, and Lazio to Serie B is not easy, and, neither is penalizing AC Milan from competing in the Champions League with a -15 points start to thier Serie A campaign.

Former Lega Calcio President, the disgraced Franco Carraro, was first notified about the undercover investigation completion as of March 2006 and decided to sit on the report allowing it to collect dust until the media brought out the earthquake of news and tapped phone conversations during the month of May 2006. Carraro was obviously proven to have been part of the scandal and banned for 4 1/2 years.

Many people view this as a terrible step backwards in Italian soccer, but, there is no doubt that the Lega Calcio is viewing this as an ethical step in moving forward. The nightmare was first felt by the Juventus squad known to everyone as the architect of the Serie A scandal.

Juventus have been demoted to Serie B with a -30 points start to their season. This will likely leave them in Serie B for two years to which we are sure the ruling's intention was aimed for. To make matters worse, both 2004/05 and 2005/06 titles have been stripped from the team. Having been runned in a mafia style approach by two the most arrogant individuals in the sport, Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo, they have both simply led and help humiliate the most successful franchise in Serie A and are now both banned for five years with a possible life ban as well to come forward. Everything from match fixing, bribes, violence have been set forward against this team. Some of the examples of this match fixing and the dubious calls in their favour can be seen on this link :

Read more on the Daily Calcio website : www.daily-calcio.com

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