Juve lodge appeal over points loss

Juventus lodged an appeal with the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) after deciding against taking their case to the civil courts last week.

Juve had originally threatened to go straight to the civil courts with their case, but the possibility of sanctions saw them step back and now an official appeal has been handed in to the CONI for arbitration. Now accepting their Serie B status, the Bianconeri are eager to have their 17-point penalty reduced or even wiped out completely.

The conciliation meetings with the FIGC have so far been disappointing, as the two parties are often too far apart in their demands.



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Tullio Lanese, the former chief of the AIA (Referees’ Association), failed to have his two year and six month ban reduced.

Referee De Santis also emerged from the FIGC meeting without a deal to cut his four-year suspension and is now evaluating his options. “I think the Calciopoli trial was rushed and affected by this desire for rough justice,” said the referee. “I believe that if those judges who made the initial sentences were to evaluate the situation today, they would act differently.”

Yesterday, another referee, Gianluca Paparesta was suspended for eight months as part of the scandal. The whistle-blower is already sitting out a three-month ban from the original trial, but this new punishment comes from the AIA Disciplinary Commission and will run from October 20, 2006 to June 19, 2007. The prosecutor had asked for a two-year suspension after wiretapped telephone conversations with ex-Milan referee liaison Leonardo Meani. Paparesta was also punished for failing to report an incident that followed a Reggina-Juventus match in 2004-05. Former Juventus director general Luciano Moggi locked the referee in his dressing room after Paparesta disallowed a last-minute Juve equaliser in their 2-1 defeat at the Stadio Granillo. He is expected to lodge an appeal.

The CONI conciliation meetings continue to disappoint. Both Lazio President Claudio Lotito and ex-Juventus director Antonio Giraudo failed to reach an agreement, so they’ll move on to the next stage of the appeals process. It’s now believed Giraudo, who was banned for five years, will skip the next phase and appeal straight to the TAR tribunal. “We are determined to go all the way. We’ll go to the civil courts and the TAR tribunal. There are no other possible alternatives.”

President Lotito has pointed out he’ll remain “within the confines of the sporting justice system. The facts will show whether we were right or not, but I repeat that I had nothing to do with this whole situation.” Lotito was suspended for two years and six months, while Lazio were ordered to begin the 2006-07 campaign with an 11-point handicap.