Italian ref gets banned for 8 months

The Italian match-fixing scandal took on a different form today as referee Gianluca Paparesta (pictured) received an eight-month ban from the Italian referees' association. He has already been banned for 3 months, meaning he will miss the whole Italian season.

"Paparesta, formerly considered one of Italy's top referees, was punished for allegedly illicit contact with AC Milan official Leonardo Meani."

Very interesting indeed. By the way, Paparesta also said he was "locked up in a locker room by then Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, supposedly for failing to assure the club's victory in a game in the 2004-05 season. Paparesta said he did not report the incident because he feared it would have ended his career."

Maybe he should have risked his career.