The malaise, though, seems to have affected every level of the game. Last year Francesco Bertolotti was put in a coma for eight days by a punch from Como's Massimo Ferrigno. The positive test for nandrolone against Juventus's Edgar Davids has reawakened a bitter debate about steroid use at the top Italian clubs. Then there are the long-standing conspiracy theories about bent referees and bought championships. The prime fascination about Italy is the proximity of beauty and ugliness in the national obsession.