AC Milan fans are sweating about the prospect of following their team in Serie B next year, after press reports suggested the club is more heavily implicated in the 'Moggi-gate' scandal than previously thought.
Up to now the main suspect has been Juventus, because its former general manager Luciano Moggi was allegedly the ringleader of a match-fixing organization involving referees, linesmen and Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) officials.
Lazio and Fiorentina were also thought to be in danger of relegation, on the basis of wiretapped conversations recorded during criminal probes and published in newspapers, while Milan's role was seen as marginal. According to press reports on Tuesday though, the FIGC investigation, carried out by former Clean Hands magistrate Francesco Saverio Borrelli, has accused Milan of "systematic misconduct".
Apparently, Borrelli's report suggests Milan ran an alternative to the Moggi system, which the club used to make sure it was assigned 'friendly' match officials. The press said Milan's situation is now considered to be more serious than that of Lazio and Fiorentina.
In one of the published wiretaps, Milan official Leonardo Meani praises a referee for his handling of a game and even promises that the club's chairman, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, will send him to his hair-transplant doctor in Switzerland.
But Italy and Milan midfield star Gennaro Gattuso seemed unconcerned Tuesday.
"I'm certain Milan will stay in Serie A, even in the light of the wiretaps," the player said from the Azzurri camp at the World Cup. "It seems to me that it would be too much to relegate a side because Meani says 'I'll get you a hair transplant' in a
telephone call".
On Monday Borrelli handed over his 193-page report on Moggi-gate to FIGC prosecutor Stefano Palazzi. Palazzi will have the job of pressing charges against clubs and individuals suspected of wrongdoing at sporting tribunals.
The FIGC tribunal is expected to convene next week, June 26-27.
The tribunal should issue its sentences by July 9.
Appeals should be heard before July 20, so the whole sporting disciplinary process can be wrapped up before UEFA conducts the draws for next season's European club competitions.
