Moggi loses appeal against life ban
Reuters - Wednesday 04 April 2012, 16:46
Former Juventus general manager Luciano
Moggi has lost an appeal against his life ban from Italian
football over a 2006 match-fixing affair, the Italian Olympic
Committee (CONI) said on Wednesday.
The decision comes as Italy faces up to a new fixing scandal
involving Bari with daily revelations filling the newspapers
only months after Atalanta were embroiled in their own
controversy over betting and match manipulation.
Moggi's fellow former Juventus director Antonio Giraudo also
had his life ban confirmed by CONI's highest court, a statement
said.
The pair were banned for five years following the
"Calciopoli" scandal which led to Juventus being relegated to
Serie B and being stripped of their 2005 and 2006 titles after
being found guilty of procuring favourable referees.
In June last year, the Italian football federation decided
to exile them for good but the pair appealed.
In November, Moggi was sentenced to five years and four
months in jail for sporting fraud following a criminal trial
linked to the affair.
Moggi had also previously been convicted of trying to
manipulate the transfer market via a management agency in a
separate criminal trial.
He is unlikely to spend time in jail due to Italy's lengthy
appeals process and an edict not to imprison offenders for many
non-violent crimes.
After several difficult seasons, Juve are back to where they
were before their demotion and are fighting for the Serie A
title with champions AC Milan.