Moggi: 'Roma intimidate refs'

By Football Italia staff

Luciano Moggi claims Roma are returning to a “pre-Calciopoli tactic: tell referees it’s best to go against Juventus to avoid criticism.”

The former director general was the main figure in the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, which saw Juve demoted to Serie B and stripped of two Scudetti.

He is now a pundit and wrote for newspaper Libero after the latest controversy over Juve’s 3-2 win against Roma.

“Morgan De Sanctis added to Francesco Totti’s remarks on Juve-Roma, so not even President Pallotta’s appeal for calm was heeded.

“That makes me think the tactic used in the pre-Calciopoli years is still the right one for them: tell referees in case of doubt it’s best to go against Juventus to avoid criticism. Basically, intimidate them.

“The statistics are at the disposal of anyone who wants to consult them. From 1998 to 2006 the team with the most penalties in favour was Milan with 70, second Roma on 57, Lazio 55, Napoli 54 and together with 53 spot-kicks were Inter and Juventus.

“The penalties against: again Milan on top with 25, followed by Juventus 26, Lazio 30, Inter, Roma and Napoli 39.”

Moggi was caught in intercepted telephone conversations urging the authorities to choose certain referees for specific games and complaining about decisions that had gone against Juventus.

Contrary to popular belief, Juventus were never charged with match-fixing, but only with attempting to influence the refereeing designator and therefore the officials as a whole.

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