Napoli charged over alleged match-fixing
Reuters - Friday 26 October 2012, 14:03
Napoli
were charged by the Italian football federation over match-fixing on the
final day of the 2009/10 season and sanctioned by UEFA on Friday over
stadium and fan problems this term.
The
club, their former third choice goalkeeper Matteo Gianello (pictured) and
ex-footballer Silvio Giusti will go before the federation's disciplinary
committee after information regarding the home match against Sampdoria
in 2010 was passed on from a criminal investigation in Naples.
Samp won the game 1-0 and entered the preliminary stage of the Champions League as a result.
Current Napoli defenders Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava have also been charged for failing to report the alleged fix.
The
moves come as part of a wide-ranging criminal and sporting probe into
illegal betting and match-fixing in Italy which has already led to
several high-profile arrests and bans.
Juventus
coach Antonio Conte was banned for four months for not reporting
match-fixing while boss of Siena in the latest corruption scandal to hit
the Italian game.
Napoli
suffered a further blow on Friday when UEFA announced it was fining them
and threatening them with a ban on European games being played at their
San Paolo stadium for how their Europa League Group F match with AIK in
September was managed.
They
have been punished "for the inappropriate conduct of their supporters,
insufficient organisation in the stadium and non-respect of UEFA
directives related to stadium security" at the game.
UEFA's
Control and Disciplinary Body has banned the club from selling tickets
for several sections of the San Paolo stadium, including the disabled
section, for their next European fixture with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on
November 8.
Napoli will now have
to show UEFA photographic evidence from an independent construction
company that the required work has been at least partially carried out
by November 6 or risk being banned from playing home European games at the
decaying ground.
"Furthermore,
the Control and Disciplinary Body ordered Napoli to play one UEFA
competition game behind closed doors, subject to a probationary period
of five years. The Italian club have also been fined 150,000 euros," the UEFA
statement continued.
A group
of Swedish fans were attacked by a gang of Napoli supporters wielding
bats and knives, with two being stabbed during the confrontation, a day
before the match with AIK.
Napoli
have three days from the dispatch of the reasoned decision to appeal
the UEFA decision.