June 28, 2006

Italian giants Juventus' problems deepened on Tuesday as team manager Gianluca Pessotto was described as being in a critical condition after jumping from his second floor office in an apparent suicide attempt.

Edit by Suzi... if you want to jump out a window and really mean it... go higher than the second floor!

The 35-year-old former Italy international defender, who was appointed to the post only last month, apparently climbed onto the window sill of his office, holding a set of rosary beads, and jumped off, bouncing off one car and onto another.

He was treated at the scene almost immediately and then taken by ambulance to hospital suffering from multiple fractures.

Pessotto, who won the 1996 Champions League with Juventus and played for them for 11 seasons retiring at the end of the last campaign, had apparently been on his own in his office at Juventus Football club at the time of his fall.

Juventus are due to face a sports tribunal this week over the match-fixing scandal that has engulfed Italian football. The row also involves Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan, although reports suggest that five smaller clubs - Empoli, Siena, Messina, Reggina and Lecce - are also to be charged.

News of Pessotto's being taken to hospital reached the Italian World Cup camp in Germany and a press conference called on the day after the team defeated Australia 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals was cut short.

Italy captain and Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro walked out the conference when he heard from journalists about Pessotto's fall.

Pessotto is not among those facing charges at the tribunal, due to start on Thursday.

Cannavaro and four other current members of Italy's team play for Juventus.

"He was here with us the other day," Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi said. "He's a friend, many of us have played with him on the national team. We hope he recovers soon, with no damage."

The scandal began last month with the publication of intecepted telephone conversations between former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and Italian Football Federation officials discussing refereeing appointments.

The scandal has so far brought charges against 26 people.

Chief investigator Francesco Saverio Borrelli would question officials from unidentified teams in Italy's top three divisions and conclude his investigation within a week, the federation said.

Pessotto attended Italy's 2-0 win over the Czech Republic last week in Hamburg.

He gained 22 caps with Italy, including the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.

Italy's next match is a quarterfinal against Ukraine on Friday.

AFP, Reuters, AP
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world-cup-2006/football-boss-jumps/2006/06/28/1151174234805.html

Hi everyone,

Well, on early Monday morning (our time), Italy will face the French in the FIFA World Cup final in Berlin !!

But I was watching very very carefully on how really did Italy made it to the final. Cheating, of course !!

Unfortunately, our Socceroos was a victim in one of Italy's "bag of tricks" by a harsh penalty on Lucas Neill. Just you watch people, how Italy will reeeeeeeallllly act against France !!

Anyway I want to say good luck to France. They beat Brazil and now Portugal. I hope they beat the pasta-eaters !!

wogs versus the frogs......i say go the wogs.....this is a derby .....a state of origin....across the border tussle ....the aussies/asians will have another go  in four years....auf wieders hen.

Oh fps B_M, get over the "Italy are cheats; we shoulda won; it's not fair, waaaa waaaaa" thing already!  Talk about bad loser!  Sheesh!

Quoted from Paula

Oh fps B_M, get over the "Italy are cheats; we shoulda won; it's not fair, waaaa waaaaa" thing already!  Talk about bad loser!  Sheesh!

Paula, take a good look at not only their win against Australia, but the other teams that Italy suspiciously won. They faked tripping over and hurting themselves.

Just you watch, early Monday morning of the World Cup final. They will cheat again against the French !!  

It's not a cry baby thing if it's true. The Socceroos were getting critisized before they even played a match. Don't tell me that they were treated fairly.

What happened was devastating and cruel but I think we need to pick ourselves up and move forward. Poor decisiosns are often made and I guess this is just one of the many harsh decisions the socceroos amongst other nations had to experience before Fifa can improve on the process and dwelling on the past isn't really going to help the socceroos and if anything, it will tarnish our reputation. The whole world pretty much saw it and they all know what went down so next time the socceroos enter a major competition, people will remember them as those unfortuante hero's who proved alot on the world stage, not that small naive nation who made a splash, had some bad luck and went home sulking.
I personaly thought it was at best, a 50/50 decision and I guess in hindsight maybe the ref should have given Neil the benefit of the doubt.

Well said!

yeah we know they cheated oh well.
wish england won their match

Yeah the football was played and the defender he fell right in front of goals ..within the zone you fall and stop a player going for goal you pay the penalty .....its been done a thousand times before ..nothing new under this sun .......forza italia.

Match fixing debacle continued...

Italian trio relegated over match-fixing

Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were relegated to the Italian second division overnight as punishment for their involvement in the country's match-fixing scandal, but AC Milan were handed a Serie A reprieve.

Juventus was also deducted 30 points from the club's total for next season and stripped of its past two league titles.

Lazio and Fiorentina were also relegated to Serie B and penalised seven points and 12 points respectively.

AC Milan will stay in Serie A but will lose 15 points and will be kicked out of the Champions League.

A sports tribunal made up of five retired judges handed down the verdicts.

The tribunal's decision came just five days after Italy won the World Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory over France in Berlin.

The teams will have three days to appeal before a federal court of arbitration and a final decision will be given by July 24.

Players

Together the four clubs punished accounted for most of the players in the Italy team which won the World Cup.

Many of the top players from Juventus may seek new clubs either in Italy or elsewhere in Europe.

Coach Fabio Capello, who guided Juventus to the two titles they have been stripped of, quit as coach last week and joined Spanish club Real Madrid.

The scandal broke in May with the publication of intercepted telephone conversations between a former Juventus official and Italian soccer authorities discussing refereeing appointments.

As well as the clubs, the tribunal barred a number of club officials from the game for varying lengths.

Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, who was at the centre of the scandal, was banned from the game for five years and ex-federation president Franco Carraro for four-and-a-half years.

A prosecutor who made charges had sought relegation to the third division Serie C for 29-times Italian champions Juventus.

Officials from some of the Italian clubs named in the scandal have said they will turn to Italy's civil courts, raising the prospect of a messy legal battle.

-AFP/Reuters

Source:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1687360.htm