and Berlusconi owns the media.. tv, newspapers

If AC milan also relegated....
then i think there's ntg left to watch in serie A anymore...
haha...~~

OMG

how come they deduct 30 points for juve !! =.=
will there be a crisis for juve ?
or the 1st team jus stay at juve then get promotion (is it possible after deducted 30 points?0

actually for juve's standard, i think 30 points deficit can still be solved. but depends whether the players want to stay and help, coz as mentioned by forumers, the players are not youngsters, 1 or 2 years in lower division may spell the end for their career....

Can you prove your case??

Don't you think that maybe AC Milan's involvement in Match Fixing are not serious as Juventus did?? Why Fiorentina and Lazio are only deducted little points compared to Juve??

There might be some players that will stay.... the one that is loyal.... for the promotion, I dont think Juve will come back straight to Serie A next season with that -30 points... but maybe in 2007-2008...

then wait 3 years for champions league again

the 30 points deduction is crazy la

better dun play next season.....LOL

rest for one season hahahaha

30point deduction for Juventus is really crazy in Serie B ... I nvr expected it to be so much.. since I tot the most Juventus will just get relegated.

We won't be seeing much nice exciting matches in the Serie A next season I guess.

it all depends where will all the players are gonna end up in. it all depends........

I think the point of the 30 point deduction is to prevent them from repromoting themselves back asap i.e in merely one season.

not really la.. still got ac and inter ma

Wow CATANIA !!!! Welcome to SERIE A.

Just hope appeal will be accepted.

Hmmm, looks like the three relegated teams will have familiar opposition in serie B...

Bologna, Genoa, and Brescia are still around, as well as the Veneto teams like Vicenza and Verona... Napoli have also come back, so here is another former giant... And not forgetting the matches between Juve, Fiorentina, and Lazio themselves!

But seriously, it looks strange to see the Serie A without the main drawcard Juve around... Also funny to have them in the second division instead...

....and the freaking next year, the scandal continues as why milan escaped relegation. This will never end...

Aih..where is Como...plunge like Sheffield Wednesday? From A-->B-->C1 consecutive season ah?

nothing is impossible, if juv can get 91 points in serie A...juv might get more than 100 points, even if some star does leave. juv just need to win every game, and they still stand a chance to promote back to serie A

there are still much exciting matches, but the serie A winner is already determined IMO. the only team i can think that might able to challenge inter is roma. ac still stand an outside chance, but i still cant see how ac can overcome the 15 points deduction

here's an interesting article..

Comment: Throwing Out Baby With The Dirty Bath-Water

Gavino Nieddu assesses the punishments handed down in the match-fixing trial and worries that the federation has cut off its nose to spite its face...

Just when I think people could not get any stupider, the "Gazzetta Delle Stupidagine" releases another eye-rolling cover story that confirms that intelligence is in a downward spiral.

Congratulations Italia, as you sit on top of the world you've managed to self-destruct again. I suppose it is in Italian nature. Like the mighty Ancient Romans did, the neo-Romans have a habit of reaching the heights and falling on their face by their own hands. It hurts to say it, but this time it will look good on them. They should have known better.

In 1982 Italy claimed their 3rd World Cup and sat on top of the football world. It too took place in the midst of a scandal that saw Lazio and Milan relegated to Serie B. What was accomplished? Serie A wound up with lesser quality teams replacing giants. Star players left. Other squads elsewhere in Europe benefited from an open market of players, and less competition. Even the teams that remained in Italy's top flight suffered from lack of competition as rival squads were no longer there and in their place, mediocre lower tier teams played. The quality of the game was not elevated, ratings and attendance dropped and in consequence revenues dropped as well. Lo and behold, years later corruption cropped up again. Why? The system was never fixed. Teams were just thrown out and the ones that remained kept up the cheating.

Is it any wonder that with this sudden drop in quality in Italy it took almost a decade to bring Italy back to competitive standards? It took 7 years for Italy to lay claim to a UEFA Cup (Napoli). In the '80s Italy claimed 1 Cup Winners' Cup (Juventus). Italy did win 2 Champions' League titles in the '80s (Juventus '85/Milan '89) but by then Milan had had 7 years to rebuild. That's a big difference from the 13 European trophies claimed by Italian teams in the '90s. The worst affected, however, was our National Team. Does anyone remember how Italy did in Euro 84 in France? Probably not, since they weren't there after failing to qualify. They got the boot early in the '86 World Cup in Mexico after being automatic qualifiers at the hands of France. By '88 in Germany they were looking better but still got hammered by the Soviets in the Euro Cup. It wasn't until Italia '90 that Italy were back to being the football powerhouse they used to be. Are we ready to go through all that again? This time might be worse. This time it's not 2 squads, it's 3.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think they should have turned a blind eye. The guilty individuals certainly should have been punished. The system needs significant strengthening as well. To throw out 3 massive squads however is detrimental. The way in which everything took place makes one think that it almost had more to do with overthrowing a major football powerhouse that had simply become too dominant than fixing a faulty system. The sheer imbalance of the punishments certainly points to that motive. So does the imbalance of the investigation. Why were so many teams not investigated after having their phone calls intercepted revealing their active participation in this corrupt system? Inter's president was overheard calling the same individuals Moggi called and for the same purposes for example, yet Inter were not further investigated. Roma's elaborate gift-giving to referees surfaced as well; still no investigation. Milan's system (which paralleled Moggi's) was unveiled yet they remained in Serie A. Milan's indirect sponsorship of Collina through OPEL was also revealed, yet no action was taken. A long list of other teams ranging from Serie A to C were also named and never dealt with. Why the double standards?

Only the big wigs of the Italian system will ever really know. The end result is that a few Italian teams will have to rebuild from the guillotine they are being led to (barring what I fear will be futile appeals). The system hasn't changed or been reinforced and in a little time we will likely have another scandal on our hands. Interest, ratings, attendance, and revenues will all drop while other leagues and non-Italian teams reap the benefits. History is set to repeat itself, and we the Italian football fans are the ones who will suffer the most.

Maybe if everyone saw it in this light, certain bloodthirsty Italian fans would realize that they have very little to celebrate. Consequences should never outweigh benefits. I fear this time they will. I just hope for all our sakes that it doesn't take 8 years to rebuild again.

Gavino Nieddu

Source: http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoId=94677