Refereeing great Pierluigi Collina has been cleared of involvement in last year's soccer match-fixing scandal by Soccer Federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi, the Italian Soccer Federation said on Tuesday.
Palazzi's clearance gives the green light for Collina's appointment as the ref selector for Italy's top two soccer divisions.
Sources at the Italian Referees' Association (AIA) confirmed that Collina's appointment will be officially announced on Thursday.
Palazzi had examined Collina's position after reports that Naples prosecutors probing the Calciopoli scandal had wiretapped conversations the ref had with former AC Milan official Leonardo Meani, one of those found guilty.
Collina provided evidence that he had a 20-year friendship with Meani, Milan's official in charge of relations with referees, convincing Palazzi he was unconnected to the match-rigging.
Collina, whose bald head and penetrating stare helped build his celebrity status, retired from refereeing in 2005.
He is considered by many to be soccer's greatest ever ref.
He is respected here for his impartiality and his appointment should help restore faith in Italy's referees, damaged by last year's Calciopoli scandal.
Juventus were relegated and AC Milan, Lazio, Reggina and Fiorentina were deducted league points for alleged attempts to arrange 'friendly officials' for their games.
Top ref Massimo De Santis and former ref selectors Paolo Bergamo and Pier Luigi Pairetto were banned from soccer for their involvement in Calciopoli.
Voted the world's best ref a record six times, Collina has officiated some of the sport's biggest games.
These include the 1999 European Champions League Final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich and the 2002 World Cup Final between Brazil and Germany.
According to reports in the Italian media, the AIA have agreed to pay Collina a 550,000-euro salary.
Collina, who is married with two daughters, is a graduate in economics.
The 47-year-old is an accomplished linguist with good French, English and Spanish.
As well as running his own business as a financial advisor, he has also parlayed his high soccer profile into lucrative ad deals around the world.
He has appeared in adverts for gorgonzola cheese, Opel cars, sports equipment and Japanese octopus hamburgers.
What's more, his trim figure and masterful personality have made him a sex symbol for many women.
Collina's distinctive bald head was caused by a bout of alopecia at the age of 26.
