Italian soccer's emergency supremo Guido Rossi on Monday backed national coach Marcello Lippi against calls for his ouster. "It would be total madness to pin the blame on Lippi and not nail the real culprits," said Rossi, a former bourse watchdog called in to sort out a match-fixing scandal that has shocked Italy.
Rossi said he had "total confidence" in Lippi, who has been questioned by prosecutors on suspicions that he was pressured on team selection by the man at the centre of the scandal, former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi. Lippi's son works for Moggi's son at Italy's biggest player agency GEA, which is suspected of helping Moggi gain a stranglehold on Italian soccer and fix matches with the help of complicit referees.
After receiving Rossi's backing, Lippi again ruled out resigning.
"I've never had an agent, I've never been represented by my son and I have nothing to do with GEA". "Only people who've been exposed quit. If you have the confidence of the people you work with you can even face an oncoming truck".
Lippi is a former coach of Juventus, which won the last two championships but is threatened with demotion to the second division if prosecutors' suspicions are proved.
