ITALY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Sport should be about loyalty and competition says one Rome resident

Record ID: 859910

  • Title: ITALY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Sport should be about loyalty and competition says one Rome resident
  • Date: 30th May 2012
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (MAY 29, 2012) (REUTERS) STREET PEOPLE GOING TO WORK (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ROME RESIDENT FILIPPO PICCONI SAYING "I am sad twice. There are dirty things everywhere but it's even more sad when they involve sports which should all be about loyalty and competition." PEOPLE IN THE STREETS NEWSPAPER STAND
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • City:
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2OVHH3O355OKZMJJRK4QOHFR9
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  • Story Text: Italians reacted with sadness and disppointment on Tuesday (May 29) a day after Italian police carried out searches and arrests in the latest match-fixing investigation.
    "I am sad twice. There are dirty things everywhere but it's even more sad when they involve sports which should all be about loyalty and competition" said Filippo Picconi.
    Monday's raids by around 280 police in 23 cities cast a further shadow over Italian soccer which has still not fully recovered from the 2006 "Calciopoli" match-fixing scandal which saw Juve stripped of the title and dumped into the second division.
    Police arrested Lazio captain Stefano Mauri and former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, now with Serie B side Padova, as part of the investigation.
    Police also carried out searches in the headquarters of Italy's national squad, investigating defender Domenico Criscito. Criscito maintains his innocence, but due to his involvement in the investigation he is been excluded from the Euro 2012 squad.
    "Soccer has deteriorated" said another Rome resident, Alessandro Roja.
    "And it's always the supporter who suffers in the end. I feel personally hit, because I am a Lazio supporter, with Mauri's arrest. Maybe it's because they are never content, they want more and more."
    "I don't follow soccer anymore. I used to, but not anymore. And also because of these scandals" said a disillusioned fan, Gloria Imbroglia.
    "I think soccer should be something for families, children but there is too much money involved. Just look at the wages of the players" she added.
    All the arrests were in connection with fixtures last season between Lecce and Lazio, and Lazio and Genoa.
    A police statement said five people were also arrested in Hungary on suspicion of involvement in an illegal international betting ring headed by Singaporean Tan Seet Eng who was arrested in December.
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