Italy's oldest and best-loved soccer talk show has become the latest victim of the biggest scandal in Serie A history.
The scandal revolves around allegations that former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi led a criminal group which steered the 2004-05 championship in his team's favour. It was sparked by a string of criminal investigations and has already led to the resignations of the President and Vice President of the Italian Soccer Federation and the whole of the Juventus board.
The scandal has now also felled Aldo Biscardi, the veteran presenter of Il Processo di Biscardi (Biscardi's Trial), who announced his resignation on Tuesday.
The show's reputation was tainted by publications of phone taps of conversations between Moggi and Biscardi, and Moggi and Fabio Baldas - a former referee who acted as the expert commentator for action replays of controversial match incidents.
The wiretaps suggested that Moggi tried to influence the way the action replays were analysed so that it did not seem that Juventus had any favours from referees. Prosecutors in Naples are probing allegations that Moggi did in fact manage to organize 'friendly' treatment for his side, via a network of collusive referees, line officials and referee-appointers.
Biscardi used Monday's show to rebut the allegations, arguing he did not put Moggi's orders into practice. But on Tuesday, the journalist said he and the head of the private channel La 7 had agreed he needed "time out for reflection".
The announcement ended the 26-year history of a peculiarly Italian, immensely enjoyable, celebration of broadcasting anarchy fed by football news.
Biscardi started the show in 1980 with the intention of creating a televised version of the heated discussions that take place in bars across Italy every Monday in the wake of the previous day's action.
Panellists were allowed to be as blatantly biased as they liked in fighting their favourite team's corner, while raised voices, colourful language and wagging fingers were considered part of the fun.
The show had a stubbornly loyal audience, which included many of the country's top figures.
New Deputy Premiers Massimo D'Alema and Francesco Rutelli, and former premiers Silvio Berlusconi and Giulio Andreotti are some of the political heavyweights that have been Biscardi's guests over the years .
"I'm really sorry (about Biscardi's resignation), both on a personal and professional level," said popular TV journalist Lamberto Sposini, a regular on the programme.
"Whether you like it or not, Biscardi is a piece of sporting TV-journalism history". Much of the show's appeal stemmed from Biscardi's never-ending enthusiasm for the game and his tireless crusades for footballing justice.
But having taken the moral high ground on many occasions made it difficult for the 75-year-old to ride out this storm.
One of his biggest campaigns was for the introduction of video officials in soccer - like those in other sports, such as rugby and cricket. Ironically, the use of video replays played a part in his downfall.
The fact that Marco Tronchetti Provera, a key stakeholder in La7, is also on the board of Juve rival Inter Milan will not have made Biscardi's position any easier.
"I have to tell the truth, I haven't been watching Il Processo di Biscardi recently," said former Azzurri legend Sandro Mazzola .
"I'm sorry for Aldo, I've known him for a long time, but I won't miss it".
Biscardi finished on a high though. Monday's show attracted 1.5 million viewers, 6.6% of the audience share, one of its best performances.
"This record number of viewers shows that I have nothing to do with this affair, which has wounded me," Biscardi said.
"We gave indisputable proof of this. Il Processo di Biscardi has never taken its audience for fools". Not everyone thinks the veteran's career is over.
"A presentator like Aldo Biscardi is comparable to a brand like (pasta producer) Barilla, with his nationwide popularity," said German media expert Klaus Davi, another regular on the programme. "Brands often go through crises, but they are not necessarily permanent".
