Cordoba: ‘Inter robbed in 2002’

By Football Italia staff

Ivan Cordoba admits Inter slipped up on May 5, 2002 but “if it weren’t for other incidents it’d have been a different story”.

The Nerazzurri went into the final day of the 2001-02 season holding a one point lead over Juventus, and two points on champions Roma.

However, Hector Cuper’s side went down 4-2 at the Stadio Olimpico to hand the title to Juventus in Ronaldo’s last game for the club.

It was widely viewed as a case of Inter having bottled it, but Cordoba believes the Calciopoli scandal which broke four years later offers other interpretations.

“We messed up on May 5, even if in my head there’s a problem,” the former centre-back told Premium Sport.

“The memory is refreshed, not with things we didn’t see but successive incidents backed-up by facts.

“Meanwhile there was Udinese-Juventus. After that game one of my international teammates came to me and told me that four starters were sent to the stands for no reason.

“I don’t want to call out a Coach, but you understand that incident was like so many others.

“We didn’t win because we didn’t have the power to win. It was in our hands. But if there had been no other incidents it would have been a different story.”

Cordoba then went on to discuss the Calciopoli scandal, which saw Juve relegated to Serie B and Inter controversially awarded the 2005-06 title.

Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina were also punished in the scandal.

“It seems that because it was Inter who triggered such a thing that they must then be guilty for a tragedy of Italian football.

“What happened in those years should be a source of shame for all of Italian football, for what those people did to Italian football.

“Knowing that you’re going to see a game and others already know how it’s going to end is something that can’t exist.

“We can’t forget about it, or people will go back to doing the same things. You have to remember it and talk about it, because if it doesn’t exist then you can pretend it never existed.

“It happened here, and how.”

In 2011, Inter were accused by prosecutor Stefano Palazzi of having attempted to influence referees during the Calciopoli era, but no trial could be brought as the statute of limitations had expired.

President Massimo Moratti denied all of the claims, calling the prosecutor’s allegations “offensive, grave, and stupid.”

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