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Showing posts with the label serie a

latest match-fixing developments

Greece, Italy and Turkey are making strides in rooting out match-fixing in their football leagues - there's a long way to go though. Don't believe for a moment that these are isolated cases... Riots follow ban for 2 clubs in Greek league Italian authorities rush to end match-fixing scandal Turkish league endorses play-offs amid match-fixing allegations

Serie A rife with match-fixing and FIFA is still bent

Nothing new here, but glad to see the Italians are actually doing something about it! Ex-Italy striker arrested for match-fixing ROME (AFP) - Former Italy striker Giuseppe Signori was among 16 people arrested for match-fixing in a co-ordinated sting by Italian police on Wednesday. Amongst those targeted were ex Serie A players and current players from both Serie B and Serie C as well as club directors from the lower leagues, all suspected of being part of an organisation that rigged games to fix bets. Perhaps the tide will turn in Italy and this stuff might start disappearing, but I reckon we are still a long way from that. It's a cultural thing, just like the endemic levels of corruption within FIFA. It is an old boys' club where everything is about greasing palms. Football is a dirty game run by dirty people. Its simplicity leads to its popularity and its popularity reels in the dodgy characters plaguing the game. The more we realise it is just one sport, rather th...

Italian football on the nose again

It's nothing new but it's amazing how these things get swept under the carpet because "it's the Italian way". Peter Webb pointed out on his blog today, the Chievo vs Catania result was known before the match began. The majority of bookmakers took the match off the board, and those who did keep it up, had the draw odds-on which is ridiculous. The 1-1 draw traded as low as evens pre-match on Betfair, when it should usually trade around 7. The Italian culture is that friends should always help each other, and that there's no point in one party beating the other when they have nothing to gain from it. That's admirable with your mates, but it has no place in professional sport. If the sporting authorities had any balls at all, they would come down on it like a house of bricks. We're talking about a first-world country with a third-world set of ethics. Take a look at the two teams. Chievo were almost certainly clear of relegation, Catania could do with a fe...