If they said to us that the national team must not go to the European championships for the good of soccer, it wouldn’t be a problem,’ said head coach of the Italian soccer team, Cesare Prandelli, in an interview with state broadcaster RAI before Italy got ravaged 0-3 by Russia in Zurich in a pre-Euro friendly on June 1. Prandelli’s comment was in reference to latest scandal to rock Italian soccer.
Italy’s national soccer team and its players recently came under scrutiny, putting a shadow over the team’s Euro Cup 2012 campaign.
On May 28, defenseman Domenico Criscito’s room at the Italian squad’s training camp in Coverciano, Florence, was searched by police, and he was formally given a notice that he was under investigation for suspected wrongdoing with his former team Genoa. Criscito was subsequently kicked off the national team.
Another national team member who plays with Juventus, Leonardo Bonucci, also received official notification that he was under investigation, though he is still on the national team.
Days later, Italy captain and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made the headlines for allegedly betting some 1.5 million euro on soccer matches, which he says were on foreign leagues not Serie A teams. To date he is not under investigation. According to the rules, players are prohibited from betting on games even if there is no match-fixing involved.
Players and coaches of Tuscan teams playing in the Serie A and B levels are also being investigated by officials, among them current Juventus coach, Antonio Conte, for alleged wrongdoing when he was in charge of Siena in the 2010–2011 season.
In all, approximately 150 people from the world of Italian soccer are currently under investigation. Italian premier Mario Monti made a highly controversial comment, saying he thought it might be best to stop professional soccer in Italy for a two or three years because of the scandal.
