World Cup Champions Italy could be banned from Euro 2008
The soccer fate of Italy rests in Juventus's hands. FIFA has warned the Italian football federation (FIGC) that if Juventus take their match-fixing appeal to civil court, they might ban all Italian teams from international competition, including the national team.
The pressure is now on the FIGC to prevent Juventus from taking the matter further. At issue is Articles 61-2 and 61-3 of FIFA's rules which states that clubs must "accept to abide by sports authorities' rules, forsaking their right to turn to civil courts which are outside the sports justice system."
FIFA says it is up to the FIGC to prevent one of its teams from breaking these rules. If they cannot do so, FIFA will punish them.
Juventus said on Monday that they were going to appeal to an administrative court in Rome, although it has not formally taken such a step.
"If Juventus go before an administrative court, then FIFA pass the matter to its emergency committee," FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said. "The committee wouldn't even have to meet in person. It (the suspension of all Italian teams) could happen very quickly."
I find it hard to believe that FIFA would actually ban the Italian team from Euro play, as they would lose money by doing so and if there is one thing FIFA never seems to do is lose money. Still, I would hope that they would enforce this threat if it comes to be. Juventus has done major harm to the game and now is whining about getting in trouble for doing so. They have already had their punish decreased, but they still want more. It is time for everyone in Italy to stand up to this sort of garbage.
My guess is FIGC will give an additional reduction of penalty to Juventus and they will in turn drop their threat of civil courts, but still complain that they were cheated. And some people might believe them as who is better at realizing someone is cheating then a cheater.
The pressure is now on the FIGC to prevent Juventus from taking the matter further. At issue is Articles 61-2 and 61-3 of FIFA's rules which states that clubs must "accept to abide by sports authorities' rules, forsaking their right to turn to civil courts which are outside the sports justice system."
FIFA says it is up to the FIGC to prevent one of its teams from breaking these rules. If they cannot do so, FIFA will punish them.
Juventus said on Monday that they were going to appeal to an administrative court in Rome, although it has not formally taken such a step.
"If Juventus go before an administrative court, then FIFA pass the matter to its emergency committee," FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said. "The committee wouldn't even have to meet in person. It (the suspension of all Italian teams) could happen very quickly."
I find it hard to believe that FIFA would actually ban the Italian team from Euro play, as they would lose money by doing so and if there is one thing FIFA never seems to do is lose money. Still, I would hope that they would enforce this threat if it comes to be. Juventus has done major harm to the game and now is whining about getting in trouble for doing so. They have already had their punish decreased, but they still want more. It is time for everyone in Italy to stand up to this sort of garbage.
My guess is FIGC will give an additional reduction of penalty to Juventus and they will in turn drop their threat of civil courts, but still complain that they were cheated. And some people might believe them as who is better at realizing someone is cheating then a cheater.
posted by Mike H at 10:38 AM
2 Comments:
I've left my thoughts on it on my Blog and, as I said there, you have to admire their sheer nerve. We can only hope that the FIGC stand up against this sort of thing. It's in the interests of all of us.
I didn't like it the first time they reduced their points deduction, so I sure hope FIGC keep their ground and don't fall to Juventus appeal threat. You cheated, got caught, do your time.
BTW, very interesting blog!
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