Italian giants Juventus are claiming massive damages from the Italian Football Federation over their demotion to Serie B.

The request is included in the appeal presented to the TAR Lazio civil court and amounts up to £92m, representing the economic loss allegedly suffered by the club because of its relegation.

The Turin outfit officially presented their Calciopoli appeal to the Lazio tribunal on Thursday which mainly consisted of two parts.

Juve asked for their immediate reinstatement to Serie A, eventually with the 17-point deduction which was handed out by the sporting justice system.

The Bianconeri also stated that they suffered major economic losses because of the scandal and believe they should be compensated by the FIGC who they deem responsible for the situation.

Juve quantified the damage of £50m if they were to play in this season’s Serie A and £92m if the Second Division were instead to be confirmed.

The main motivation of the appeal was the belief that the sanctions were unjustified and unfair when compared with those given to the other guilty clubs, as confirmed by Juventus chief Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

FIGC and CONI [the Italian Olympic Committee] are now ready to reply with their claim for damages, considering the Bianconeri responsible for undermining the credibility of the Italian Championship, as well as sport in general.

An extra hearing may be scheduled by the TAR Lazio on August 31, to specifically discuss Juve’s case.

The new season is set to kick-off on September 9 and both the FIGC and the Lega Calcio have guaranteed that there will be no further delays.

The arrogance of this Juve administration is unbelivable! They're demanding compensation - have they forgotten that they were rigging matches?!

Disgraced former Juventus director Luciano Moggi is back and is not afraid of slating the entire world of Italian football.

The ex-director general was placed at the centre of the Calciopoli probe after his intercepted phone calls were published in the media and was handed a five-year ban by the sporting justice system, but Moggi refutes the idea that he was the only one responsible.

“I will not accept that myself and Antonio Giraudo are considered the only guilty parties in this issue,” said Moggi in a Press Conference in Siena.

“If the verdicts are being gradually reduced and there are no more corrupt parties, that means that we are not guilty of corrupting anybody. You need to prove there has been wrongdoing to accuse someone and in this case there is no proof, only hypotheses,” added Big Luciano.

The former Juve official denied that referee Massimo De Santis ever favoured the Bianconeri and once again asked for proof of the ‘Moggi System’ referred to in the scandal.

“The trial has not proved the existence of any effective match-fixing and all the referees have been acquitted, I believe that doesn’t need any further explanation. We have been accused of trying to arrange some matches, but we never received the list of incriminated games.”

Moggi also added that he doesn’t think it was fair to assign the Scudetto to Inter, seeing that Juve earned it on the pitch.

“I hear everyone talk about the Scudetto of honesty, but can we say that a club who fielded players with a false passport is really honest?” he said, referring to the scandal involving Inter player Alvaro Recoba.

“If the title really needed to be reassigned, it should have been given to Roma, who played with a young and entertaining team.”

Moggi will keep on fighting, although his appeal to the TAR tribunal was rejected on Tuesday, and says that fans still stop him in the street to show their support.

“People tell me I am not alone and that is what I also said to the judges: there are 13 million Juve supporters that are watching, they can’t just punish us with no evidence.”

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Juventus have confirmed that they are in negotiations with the Federation to halt their legal battle, which could see them remain in Serie B without a points penalty.

“We are in talks with the FIGC,” announced Bianconeri President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli this evening. “We are ready to negotiate with the CONI Olympic Committee.”

The club had sparked an increasingly vicious legal battle in a bid to have their Serie A status restored following the Calciopoli scandal.

A conciliation meeting failed and they lodged an appeal to the TAR tribunal, asking for £92m in damages if they were forced to remain in Serie B.

The FIGC reacted by threatening their own court case and further sanctions against the Turin giants, but new reports suggest there is a new strategy in place.

It’s believed that Juventus were using the TAR option in order to force the Federation’s hand and step down from their original strict view of the issue.

The Bianconeri’s lawyer had stated during the match-fixing trial that they’d accept Serie B without a handicap, so while Juve may publicly claim they will not stop until their top flight status is restored, their real aim is to have the 17-point penalty wiped out or at least drastically reduced.

This figure is already a ‘discount’ on the original Calciopoli verdict of a 30-point handicap.

No Juve talks, say FIGC
Wednesday 30 August, 2006

The Italian Football Federation insist they are not in negotiations with Juventus in an attempt to halt the Calciopoli club from appealing to the civil courts.

“The Italian Football Federation and Juventus are not negotiating,” read an FIGC statement.

“And the FIGC’s position in this matter is identical to the one already adopted with the other clubs involved in the match-fixing scandal.

“The FIGC lawyers are studying their reply to Juventus’ appeal which will be discussed in front of TAR Lazio, in the hearing scheduled for September 1.”

Juventus officials had confirmed on Sunday that they planned to discuss with the Federation the possibility of remaining in Serie B without a points deduction.

“We are in talks with the FIGC and we are ready to negotiate with CONI [the Italian Olympic Committee],” said Bianconeri President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

Juventus, who were demoted to Serie B and handed a 17-point deduction for this season, failed in their conciliation meeting in front of CONI two weeks ago.

The Bianconeri have since then decided to appeal to the civil justice system, even though the FIGC and FIFA have both warned the club that they risk further sanctions as a result.

Juve, who initially claimed they would not stop until their top-flight status was restored, may now be aiming to have the 17-point penalty drastically reduced or totally wiped out.

Cobolli Gigli will be in Rome on Wednesday for the Serie B fixture draw up and has confirmed his intention of opening a communication channel with the FIGC.


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Mazzone: Moggi was all talk

Carlo Mazzone has come out to defend Juventus and the Calciopoli-hit clubs, claiming there was no actual cheating going on.

“Seeing the Scudetto on Inter’s shirt makes me feel pessimistic and irritated. The title is earned on the field and not because others were punished for some non-existent sporting fraud charges,” said the grand old man of Italian football.

“There were attempts to get a better angle, but on the field Juventus won fair and square. I worked with Luciano Moggi at Roma and let me assure you that he is the biggest boaster in Italy, while behind him there is an army of younger versions who have learned his lessons. Moggi’s biggest crime was of vanity.”

The former Juventus director general’s wiretapped phone conversations were at the centre of the Calciopoli trial and saw the club stripped of two titles and demoted to Serie B. Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina were also punished and docked points from the 2006-07 season.

“In order to understand Calciopoli, you have to make a distinction between those who work in football and those who act behind the scenes,” explained Mazzone to newspaper ‘Tuttosport’.

“Clubs, Coaches and players represent the crucial and healthy foundations of the whole sport. Without a good co-ordination between these elements, it’s an immediate crisis. Then there is another world, I say it’s in the shadows, full of people who boast of their power to get absolutely anything done. Their catchphrase is ‘I’ll take care of it’. They’re the ones I always tell to mind their own business and leave me alone. This isn’t just an issue with Juventus, it’s the case everywhere.”

The wiretapped telephone conversations are effectively the only evidence of pressure on referees to help fix certain results and the majority of the ‘men in black’ were cleared of wrongdoing. Mazzone’s suggestion is that the statements held up in front of the judges were in fact little more than boastful talk from people without any real influence to exert.

Mazzone left Livorno after a dismal spell on the Amaranto bench and his 20-year Coaching career could well be over.

“Let’s say that, unlike other years, I am trying to test how ready I am to be a pensioner. It’s not a role that suits me but, sooner or later, we must all settle into it. I’m not entirely certain I will manage it yet, but at least I’m giving it a go.”


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