Since 2004, Fabio Capello had taken over the club, and lead them to two more Serie A titles. But during May 2006, Juventus were one of four clubs (along with A.C. Milan, ACF Fiorentina, and S.S. Lazio) linked to an Italian match fixing scandal. The scandal centered around Juventus' then general manage; Luciano Moggi who along with other Italian football federation figures were accused of "slealtà" (dishonest sporting behaviour) and "illecito sportivo" (illegal sports actions). Moggi was accused of trying to "influence" referee assigners in order to have certain referees assigned to Juventus' matches. Moggi was also accused of "sequestro di persona" (false imprisonment) for having locked a referee in his dressing room at the stadium after a loss. On May 13, Moggi along with two other members of the board resigned, along with the entire Juventus administrative council. No players were accused of any wrong-doing.
[edit] Trial
Juventus, A.C. Milan, ACF Fiorentina and S.S. Lazio were ordered to stand trial on June 28 2006. A day before the trial, Juventus' new team manager Gianluca Pessotto fell from a 4th story window seriously injuring himself. Reports claimed that Pessotto was clutching a rosary, an indication of a possible suicide attempt possibly related also to stress due to the scandal.[13] Later Pessotto’s wife said that his suicide attempt was nothing to do with the scandal but to do with his job and other personal reasons.
Manager Fabio Capello left Juventus in early July 2006 for Real Madrid. He was replaced by former French international Didier Deschamps, who had played for Juventus in the 1990s.[14] The Italian Football Federation's prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, called for Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan to be thrown out of Serie A. He called for Juventus to drop to at least Serie C1 and for AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to drop to Serie B. He also asked for points penalties to be imposed and that Juventus be stripped of their 2005 and 2006 scudetti.[15]
When the sentences were handed down, Juventus was stripped of their 2005 and 2006 scudetti and relegated to Serie B.[16] They were also kicked out of the UEFA Champions League for the forthcoming 2006/07 season. Juventus was also docked 30 points for 2006/2007, which club president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli called the equivalent of being knocked down to Serie C1. The 30-point deduction - the equivalent of having 10 wins count for nothing - would have made it very difficult for Juventus to return to Serie A until 2008 at the earliest.
Juventus appealed the decision. Though the court refused Juventus' request for reinstatement to Serie A and to restore Juventus' 2005 and 2006 titles, it did reduce Juventus' point deduction from 30 to 17. The court also required Juventus to play their first three home matches at neutral sites. Juventus said they "absolutely cannot accept" even these reduced sanctions, and filed an appeal at the Lazio regional court in a last effort to be reinstated into Serie A, but withdrew the appeal on August 31.[17][18] Anyway, in November 2006, after another appeal, this time with the Italian Olympic Commitee Arbitration, the point deduction was further reduced to 9 points.[19]
[edit] Aftermath
Seven key players have been sold to other clubs during the summer of 2006: Emerson and Italian national captain Fabio Cannavaro both rejoined Fabio Capello at Real Madrid, while Cannavaro's fullback colleague Gianluca Zambrotta and French defender Lilian Thuram were signed by Barcelona. Patrick Vieira moved to Inter Milan for a reported sum of €9.5m along with striker Zlatan Ibrahimović for €24.8m. Also Adrian Mutu was traded by Fiorentina with money plus the loan transfer of Bulgarian star Valeri Bojinov with the options of signing him at the end of the season. Some of the club's top stars did however remain loyal to the club, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, former Czech star Pavel Nedvěd, long-serving striker Alessandro Del Piero, Mauro Camoranesi and French striker David Trézéguet. Trézéguet had said that he was forced to stay at Juventus[20].
The 2006 scudetto was awarded to rivals Inter Milan (who finished in 3rd place behind Juventus and Milan), while the 2005 title is vacant. Since the trial, some further controversy has emerged especially among the Juve fanbase, due to perceived bias in favour of Inter Milan who were the main beneficiary from the 2006 Serie A scandal. The company who caught the infamous Moggi phone taps; Telecom Italia, controlled by president of Inter's main sponsor Pirelli Marco Tronchetti Provera appointed then FIGC commissioner Guido Rossi as new CEO. This is coupled with the fact that Rossi is said to be a loyal Inter fan.[21]