“Inter involved in Calciopolis”

Rai 3’s investigative show “Report” aired on Easter Tuesday an episode dedicated to the infamous Calciopolis scandal and it was shown that Inter were also involved, who were favored with the relegation of then-accused Juventus to Serie B, after winning in cards the 2006 championship and four more consecutive titles and the 2010 Champions League due to the suspensions in Milan, Lazio as well.

The episode aired dialogues from the approximately 170,000 wiretaps that Luciano Mozzi had released to the press. The public prosecutor of Naples, Giandomenico Lepore, who was involved in the collection of the wiretapping by the authorities, spoke on the show. Lepore explained why the evidence examined by the court hearing the case mainly concerned Juventus.

“We started with Juventus because we had more evidence and then we would continue with the other clubs. And pretty much every other club was involved, let’s be honest. One day, the wiretaps were published in ‘Espresso’ magazine.

Suddenly, all the phones were switched off and we were left with only Juventus. We had our suspicions about who leaked the data, but never real evidence, so we didn’t know. If we could continue the investigation, Inter was next in line after Juventus.”

One of the interceptions that involved the “nerazzuri” concerned the relations of the then honorary president, Giacchino Facetti, with the chief referee from 1999 to 2005, Paolo Bergamo. “Only four wins with him? Let’s increase them to five. He’s a smart kid, he knows how to move forward,” Bergamo told the former Milan international ace.

The then president of the Italian football federation, Franco Carraro, can also be heard in the wiretaps, who asked Bergamo for Inter’s favor before a derby with Juventus. “If in doubt, don’t favor Juventus. Look, if the referee was Pierluigi Collina there would be no problem, because if he makes a mistake, then nobody will say anything.

Pasquale Rodomonti does not have a good reputation. If Rodomonti makes one mistake against Inter, we’ll go mad. There is a difference of 15 points between the two teams. If in doubt, think of the team far behind,” Carraro is heard saying.

In addition, the then head of Italian football asked for a favor for Lazio as well. “On Sunday they play against Milan. Objectively it is a difficult game and we have to help them,” he told Carraro.

To another person he explained his reasoning. “Lazio comes from a series of injustices. They played in Rome and she was not given a clear penalty. I told Bergamo, please be careful.”

Massimo Moratti was asked to comment on the content of the show. “The attempt to put Inter in the same position as Juventus is unacceptable. It wasn’t like that. We behaved normally and we are blamed by those who did not behave properly.”