[Portman]

FIGC fury at Rossi conflict 

Saturday 16 September, 2006 - channel

The world of Italian football has reacted angrily to news that FIGC Commissioner Guido Rossi has taken charge of Telecom – a clear conflict of interest.

Appointed to lead the Federation through the Calciopoli scandal in May, Rossi stunned the sporting community when he was appointed President of troubled company Telecom Italia late last night.

Although he has not formally handed in his resignation from the FIGC – and CONI chief Gianni Petrucci confirmed he had only heard about the development through the news agencies – it would be practically impossible for him to continue in both positions.

“Rossi has no intention of leaving. I am convinced he’ll stay on,” FIGC Vice-President Vito Gamberale was quoted as saying in today’s newspapers.

But Rossi cannot lead Telecom through its controversial reconstruction plans and rewrite the Calcio rulebook, as it would be a clear conflict of interest – the very situation his appointment was meant to prevent.

Telecom Italia owns Alice (who show football on their mobile phone services), TIM (who sponsor Serie A and (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) and La7 (a television channel that has 10 clubs in its digital pay-per-view package).

“How many posts can he hold? At this point I think it’s opportune for Rossi to resign, at the very least from his position as Extraordinary Commissioner for the FIGC,” said Minister for Justice Clemente Mastella.

“I am awaiting clarification,” added Minister for Sport Giovanna Melandri. “One thing has to be clear – the reformation of football must not be interrupted in any way.”

Now the race is on to find another man to lead the Federation – it would be the third such figure in five months, as Franco Carraro resigned in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal on May 16.

The appointment could either be with someone outside of the football world, in which case the prime candidates are Gianni Letta and Gamberale.

If the clubs choose a return to having the sport dictated by a person who knows the environment well, then current CONI chief Petrucci (who already took over temporarily in 2000) or Raffaele Pagnozzi (who was Extraordinary Commissioner from 1996 to 1997) are the most likely options.

[Portman]

Moggi attacks Rossi

Wednesday 27 September, 2006 - channel4.com

Luciano Moggi has hit out at former Federal Commissioner Guido Rossi, accusing him of acting on Inter’s behalf during the Calciopoli investigation.

Juventus’ former director general was handed a five-year ban in the aftermath of the summer match-fixing scandal and believes that Rossi intentionally wanted to ruin him and the Bianconeri.

“Inter, Telecom Italia, Massimo Moratti, Marco Tronchetti Provera and Rossi are all partners in the same things – that is Telecom Italia and Inter,” Moggi said on Italian television last night.

“Rossi did what he had to do and then returned to his home base at Telecom,” added Moggi, referring to Rossi’s new appointment at the head of Telecom Italia, which forced him to resign from his post at the FIGC last week.

“The revelations of the past few days confirm what I have been saying for months when I referred to industrial espionage.

“I once again deny the legitimacy of the phone interceptions. Often there are words missing and in other print-outs there are extra words – how can we trust this kind of information?

“That is why I decided to give Paolo Bergamo some foreign mobile phone cards, I was aware that everyone knew what I was doing and had to somehow protect myself.

“Juventus was hit in a moment of weakness following the death of Gianni and Umberto Agnelli – had they been alive these things would have never happened.”

The Old Lady of Italian football currently resides in Serie B with a 17-point deduction, although they are hoping to have that reduced at their CONI hearing next month.

I agree with some of the things. Inter = IT Telecom = Pirelli...

And if Gianni Agnelli was alive Juventus would never go to Serie B. For sure.