Desperate measures to clear calcios conscience

Italians Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri said Friday that Italian soccers rulebook must be overhauled if the scandal-ravaged game is to regain credi-bility. Melandri said she will start a series of talks next month with figures from the sports world to discuss what rule changes should be made. The minis-ter was speaking at the presentation of a report by the Independent European Sports Review, which addresses a number of soccer-related issues. The Review, set up by the British presidency of the EU last year, proposes a series of measures which include the foundation of a European Agency for Sport and a new Europe-wide tax on sports betting. Measures would also establish more robust checks over transfer dealings and initiatives to divert more of the money generated by the Champions League to grass-roots soccer.