14 DAY TRIAL // I don't know what really happened in the Italian Serie A, but I know this? From now on, and I mean a pretty significant period of time, nothing will be the same. I'm not just saying that because Juventus or Fiorentina - lately even Milan - could be heading for Serie B. What happened in the Peninsula brought Italy to a one-way disaster. And let's just take it one thing at a time.
First, let's talk about Juve. For years and years, the "Old Lady" was suspected - by almost all the fans that had eyes to watch it on TV - of having a privileged relationship with the referees. Kind of like how it used to happen with Real Madrid a few years ago. Whenever they were in danger, the referee was always there to save the day. A penalty kick, a red card, anything? Well, now, it all blew off in their own faces.
Maybe, if it weren't so obvious, the magistrates wouldn't have supervised them for years and years. Or maybe someone decided to ring the bell. Anyhow, it happened, and the consequences couldn't have been more radical. Most likely, playing in the Serie B next season is the least harm of all.
When talking about players and coaches, Juve seems to be a great export market - Fabio Capello to Real Madrid or New York Red Bull, Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet or Emerson at Barcelona, Mutu in the Spanish League, and so on. Most of the players are going to leave not because their contracts authorize that, but because the club won't be able to pay them. And that's not all. Bankruptcy may hunt down the Serie A club.
Luciano Moggi resigned, along with the "Gold Trio" and the fans are furious. The players are leaving. The club is in a serious financial crisis. If you put all that together, one of the most impressive clubs in Italy's football history is one step away from vanishing... just like that.
Now, let's focus on the refereeing. Who thinks that an Italian referee will ever be seen as an impartial mediator on that field? I surely don't. And I'm not talking about the ones that are involved in the scandal. Those will most likely be punished, and certainly banned for life. Because, let's face it, no matter how hard we try to see them innocent, there's something inside us that tells it's all a big conspiracy.
I mean, once we already found out that 41 (forty one) clubs are involved in the monster-scandal, can we really say that there were just 3 or 4 referees involved? Maybe caught, but certainly not involved. Everyone knew about this. And that's why, everybody is an accomplice.
The Italian federation should bring young, inexperienced referees to take over. And, once they did that, a long time will pass until they can manage to hold on to an international match.
And last, but not least, let's talk about the national team. Only one month before the FIFA World Cup is to begin - that's when it all started - Lippi was investigated. There's no point in reminding you that his team's preparations for the Germany competition were suspended. And, once he admitted to Cannavaro that: "I am not the boss here, you know that", how can you still look your players in the eyes and ask them to trust you?
However, most of the players don't even know if they are going to play in Serie A next season. And the transfers, as a matter of fact, are not easy to do. Let's not forget that all the Italians in the squad are playing in Serie A? all of them, no exception. Do you ever see DelPiero play for any other team in Italy? Or Buffon? Do you think it would be easy for them to move to a foreign country then, to play abroad, after spending all their lives in Turin? Or do you think they should stay and play in Serie B? These are just a couple of questions that they are asking to themselves. And how do you expect them to focus on the World Cup, while their houses are being searched?
All of that is just a short conclusion of what happened in Italy. And remember, it's not over yet? all from just 3 minutes of conversation. Three minutes and the future of an entire culture could evolve under the sign of crisis. Three minutes and all the trophies, medals and titles are to be forgotten, while corruption thoughts pop up instead. The past decade of the Italian football stands under the suspicions of fixing matches and corruption. Everything the players worked for is now demolished. A new era is to be born. Let's see how that works out...