Inter - Post Calciopoli

It is another World Cup year. During the last World Cup year, in the summer of 2006, Italy were on their way to their fourth World Cup victory in Germany, but back home Italian club football was being rocked by the biggest ever footballing scandal, now infamously known as Calciopoli.

In the summer of 2006, recordings from telephone conversations, witness interviews and other forms evidence highlighted significant and influential roles played by powerful figures and directors at certain football clubs, notably the notorious Juventus triad: Antonio Giraudo, Roberto Bettega, and of course Luciano Moggi. The uncovered evidence revealed a seeded, distasteful and unsporting campaign involving the triad, officials from clubs other than Juventus, referees and footballing officials which had influenced the outcome of football matches and the reputation and status of selected football clubs through bribery, media manipulation, psychological persuasion, and gentlemen agreements between power figures and decision makers, rocking the very foundations of Italian football.

The verdict and punishments for the clubs and individuals involved:

Bans (ranging from three months to life time bans of working in any footballing capacity), fines and resignations for the involved referees, club directors and officials.

Fiorentina = Removed from European competitions, and started the following Serie A campaign with -15 points.

Lazio = Started the following Serie A campaign with -3 points.

Milan = Striped of automatic Champions League qualification, put in Champions League qualifying round, and started the following Serie A campaign with -8 points.

Reggina = Started the following Serie A campaign with -11 points

Juventus = Striped of the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 scudetti, relegated to Serie B, and started the following Serie B campaign with -9 points.

Since Calciopoli in 2006, there has been one Italian team that has stood out and achieved more success than any other: Inter Milan. In that time Inter have won four scudetti (including the 2005/2006 scudetto striped from Juventus), two Italian Super Cups, and twice been runners up in the Coppa Italia. Yet, many feel Inter, a team who before Calciopoli last won the scudetto in 1989, have only enjoyed success post Calciopoli because of the punishments served to their rivals (namely Juvenuts and Milan).

Did Calciopoli help Inter? Yes. Due to Juventus’ relegation Inter did not have to compete against one of the biggest rivals for the scudetto in the 2006/2007 season, and Juventus sold a number of their best players, so when Juventus returned to Serie A the following season they were a shadow of their former self. Inter benefited from this. They signed both Ibrahimovic and Vieira from the relegated Juventus, something that would definitely not have happened if Juventus remained in Serie A. However, Inter did not take too much advantage of Juventus’ position. They offered market value for both Ibrahimovic (£18 million) and Vieira (£8 million). Nevertheless, Inter were by no means handed 2006/2007 scudetto, which many people inside and outside of Italy believe to be the case, and remained so every since. Even though there was no Juventus, they still had to compete against a strong Roma side (who had no point deductions) and Milan.

Although Milan were found guilty in Calciopoli, they were not relegated to Serie B, and as a result they did not have to sell any players and remained a top class team, unlike Juventus. They had a number of World Cup winners, such as Nesta, Pirlo, and Gattuso, and had Kaka, a world class player whose performances during the 2006/2007 enabled him to win the 2007 Ballon d'Or. This was a Milan team who won the 2007 Champions League, not only demonstrating their quality, but also that the quality of Italian football had not been damaged by Calciopoli. Thus, with Inter competing in the 2006/2007 scudetto against the team that would become European champions at the end of the season, they by no means had an easy scudetto victory that season.

Many claimed Milan were out of the 2006/2007 scudetto race before it even began because of their point deduction. I would agree if Inter won that scudetto by less than 8 points, thus taking account of the 8 point deficit Milan began the season with. Yet, that was not the case. Inter finished 36 points ahead of Milan in the 2006/2007 season. People argued the point deficit had a psychological effect from the very beginning, but Milan were a team of mental strength so strong they went on to win the 2007 Champions League after being striped of their automatic place and forced to qualify. Furthermore, in the same season Reggina, a team lacking in a lot more quality than Milan, started the season with a larger 11 point deficit, yet incredibly managed to avoid relegation. If a far weaker team than Milan, being faced with the real danger of relegation, and having an even larger point deduction, who did not go on to become champions of Europe were not effected psychological by their punishment, then Milan were very unlikely to have been.

Milan’s biggest reason for the failure to challenge Inter in the first post Calciopoli scudetto was because of two transfers: the sale of Shevchenko and the purchase of Ricardo Oliveira. Shevchenko was Milan’s golden boy. A Ballon d'Or winner, he was one of the most clinical strikers in the world, scoring 127 goals in 208 games for Milan, and will go down in history as one the best strikers of his generation. Milan replaced him with Oliveira, a Brazilian striker who in his only season with Milan scored 3 goals in 26 games. It has to be acknowledged that Milan did want to replace Shevchenko with Ibrahimovic, but did not finalise the deal as they were awaiting their fate of the Calciopoli verdict, and as a result Inter signed him. At Milan Shevchenko was part of a system Ancelotti had successful designed, with Shevchenko as a key component, and as a result he was deadly in front of goal. If Milan had kept Shevchenko then there is no doubt that would have challenged, and possibly even won the 2006/2007 scudetto. In subsequent seasons to this very day Milan have failed to adequately replace Shevchenko.

Another reason Milan have failed to challenge Inter for the scudetto in every season since Calciopoli is because of Ancelotti. Unlike in the Premier League, managers in Italy tend to last a maximum of three to four seasons, if they are lucky. This is because presidents of football clubs do not like their managers to become stagnant, and this is what happened with Ancelotti. Ancelotti had been Milan manager since 2001, in which time he had won one scudetto, one Italian Cup, one Champions League, one European Super Cup, one Italian Super Cup, and one Club World Championship. However, by 2006, after a lot of success and Ancelotti having been Milan manager for five years, coupled with the loss of Shevckenko, Milan had lost fight and became complacent. One of Ancelotti’s best characteristics is his ability to gear his team up for big occasions, and as a result Milan went on to win the 2007 Champions League and the 2007 Club World Championship. Yet, after so long in the job his stagnant Milan team failed to perform and get results consistently week in week out. As a result, Milan started every post Calciopoli season badly and were very far behind in the title race before the Christmas break under Ancelotti’s leadership until his departure in the summer of 2009.

Despite Milan’s mistakes on the transfer market, and Ancelotti staying on as manager longer than he should have, Inter have deserved their success in recent years, and earned it one the pitch. In the first post Calciopoli scudetto race Inter won the 2006/2007 scudetto by 22 points, loosing only one game. Roma (a team with no point deductions) finished second, with a strong point total of 75 points. Inter have won every scudetto since.

What is the reason for Inter’s post Calciopoli success? As mentioned above, Juventus were relegated to Serie B for the 2006/2007 season and were weakened due to heavy player sales, whilst Milan sold one of their best players and were still managed by Ancelotti. Yet, more importantly Inter were a very strong team with good players and managed by a good young promising manager in Mancini. Unlike under previous managers good players were purchased under Mancini. Players such as Stankovic, Maicon and Julio Cesar. Under Mancini Inter played fluid football which had not been seen for a long time at Inter, at the highest level in all areas of the pitch. The team had goal scorers in all positions. For example, Materazzi (a centre back) scored 10 goals in the 2006/2007 season.

As mentioned previously Inter benefited from Calciopoli by purchasing Ibrahimovic and Vieria from Juventus. Ibrahimovic was a big reason for Inter’s success in recent years. He developed from a good player into a world class player with his technique, skills, ability, and goal scoring. It is important to note thought that although Juventus’ punishment allowed Inter to sign Vieira, he played less than 20 games in his debut season, and in total played 67 games in three and a half years. In that sense, did Inter benefit from Vieira’s signing?

Mourinho has since taken over from Mancini. Mourinho is a more competent, experienced, and technically gifted manager, who has better man management skills and tactical knowledge. Since he took over in the summer of 2008 Inter have gone up to another level, and it does not look like Inter’s success is going to stop any time soon. All Inter fans are hoping Mourinho can go one better than Mancini and win the Champions League.

Despite Juventus selling heavily in wake of Calciopoli, and their 11 point deficit in Serie B, they easily won promotion in 2006/2007. Since then, under new management with new directors, they have begun rebuilding in the hope of gaining success under a new regime. They have invested heavily since returning to Serie A in 2007, but have not necessarily spent wisely. There have been many questionable transfers in recent years, such as Melo (£22 million), Tiago (£9 million), Poulsen (£7 million), Almiron (£8 million), Amauri (£18 million), which looks as if Juventus fans maybe waiting a while longer before returning to the ‘glory days’.

Many feel Juventus were treated unfairly as a result of Calciopoli and feel sorry for them. What needs to be understood is the scale of what the triad did. For years they used their power and connections to influence the selection of referees and referee’s decisions during matches, controlled the media to the extent that they called the shots on which highlights of match incidents were shown on television programmes, subtly bribed officials, had gentlemen’s agreements with officials from different clubs and FIGC members, controlled the transfer market via GEA World, and made sure those people or clubs who stood up to them were ‘punished’. This was football corruption at the highest level.

Although Juvenuts and the triad were found guilty and punished for their acts between 2004 and 2006, nobody really knows how long the triad were engaged in their seeded affair of football control. It could explain why strong teams, like Inter in the 1990’s, did not win anything, and sheds light on controversial incidents in previous seasons, such as the not given penalty for the blatant foul on Ronaldo in the near end of the 1997/1998 season match between Juventus and Inter, resulting in Juvenuts then running up the other end and the referee awarding Juventus a penalty for a far less serious ‘foul’. For how the previous Juventus regime controlled Italian football for so many years, I for one feel Juventus’ Calciopoli punishment was just, and in some sense too lenient, and that the suffering Juvenuts are currently going through is just deserved for the suffering the triad had put Italian football through for years. Juventus can suffer watching their rivals gain success after success, but at least they and the rest of Italy can be rest assured that Inter have obtained it through fair play.