Carraro wins appeal

Former FIGC President Franco Carraro has seen his four-year suspension quashed in Arbitration, turning it into just a fine.

Carraro was one of the first to resign when the Calciopoli scandal exploded back in May, as the incidents of alleged pressure on refereeing designators happened under his ‘watch’.

He had been suspended for four years and six months with a fine of £53,600 in the first trial this summer. However, those charges have now been quashed in the CONI Arbitration, leaving just the financial penalty.

The judges decided, “There was no proof Carraro acted in any way other than in the interests of the Federation, nor that he took informal procedures to rebuke the refereeing section.”

Carraro has long been a key figure in Italian football’s hierarchy, first becoming FIGC Vice-President in 1973 and President from 1976 to ’78. He was in charge of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) from 1878 to 1987, then at the head of the Federation again from 1986-87 and 2001-2006.

Fiorentina withdraw TAR threat

Fiorentina will not appeal to the civil courts against their Calciopoli punishments, confirmed Viola President Andrea Della Valle.

The club was hoping for a substantial discount on its 19-point penalty handed out by the Federal Court in July, but was only granted a four-point reduction by the CONI Court of Arbitration last week, fuelling speculation that the Viola would appeal to the TAR civil court.

“We will not go to TAR,” stated Della Valle in a press conference on Friday. “This was not an easy decision for us, we thought about it carefully as you all know very well.

“We are convinced that the treatment reserved to us was not fair, but we have decided that we will appeal to the TAR only as individual officials, not as a club.

“We are considering the alternative of presenting our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it is an option and we will discuss it with our lawyers,” concluded Della Valle.

Fiorentina had reaffirmed their complete innocence, having “never committed any sporting fraud” and they reacted furiously to CONI’s decisions last week.

CONI reduced the penalties of Juventus and Lazio, handing back eight points to both, whereas Milan’s appeal failed, leaving the Rossoneri with an eight-point handicap.