2004–2010 Italian football scandal

Scandal over alleged false accounting The 2004–2010 Italian football scandal, also known as Caso Plusvalenze,http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Primo_Piano/2008/06_Giugno/12/plusvalenze_12.shtml Caso Plusvalenze, deferite Genoa, Udinese e Reggina 12 June 2008 22 August 2016 La Gazzetta dello Sport it was a scandal over alleged false accounting at Italian football clubs. The investigation started in 2004 and concluded in 2010. Background In the early 2000s, various Italian football clubs declared bankruptcy as benefactors withdrew financial support. Investigations found a widespread culture of illegality. Involved football clubs included A.C. Fiorentina (2002), Monza (2004), S.S.C. Napoli (2004), Ancona Calcio (2004), Torino Calcio (2005), A.C. Perugia (2005), Como (2005), Reggiana (2005), Salernitana Sport (2005) and A.C. Venezia (2005). In addition, Parma went into administration (bankruptcy) and was re-founded as Parma Football Club S.p.A. (2004). Previously, some of these clubs profited by cross-trading players using the football transfer market, wherein multiple players were exchanged between clubs, generally involving monetary consideration. which clubs? March 2017 This practice typically resulted in short-term financial benefit for the clubs, but in the long run it increased expenditure through 'amortisation,' (the counterpart for tangible assets is depreciation) of players' financial value. In February 2003, a law was passed that allowed clubs to defer amortisation expenses (Italian Law 91/1981, Article 18B), and avoid recapitalisation through negative equity. Despite the law, many clubs continued to practice cross-trading in order to raise the short-term profit required to meet financial criteria for the 2003– 2004 season. The law was declared unconstitutional in 2005, which caused some clubs to recapitalize and remove their amortisation fund by 30 June 2007. As a result, the clubs had to overcome yet another capital shortfall, which later created controversy when re-evaluating their brand and mortgages to banks. Scandals also involved inaccurate dating of profits obtained via player transfers. For example, in July 2001 Roma sold their Japanese international midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata for 55 billion lire, but the club documented the profit in their accounts for the 2000–01 season, claiming that the deal was agreed to before the cut-off of the financial year, which was 30 June 2001 for most clubs. Before 2003, when cross-trading was prevalent, many injustices became evident. Examples include deals involving Giuseppe Colucci and Alberto Maria Fontana (Roma–Verona, both 12.5 billion lire fee); and an exchange that involved Amedeo Mangone, Paolo Poggi and Sergei Gurenko for Diego Fuser, Raffaele Longo and Saliou Lassissi (Roma–Parma, both 65 billion lire transfer fees in total). Other deals included those of Matuzalém and an anonymous player (Parma–Napoli, both 14 billion lire); Manuele Blasi and Giuseppe Cattivera (Roma–Perugia, both 18 billion lire); Paolo Ginestra and Matteo Bogani (Milan–Inter); Giammarco Frezza and Alessandro Frau (Inter–Roma, both 8.8 billion lire) in 2001; Vratislav Greško and Matías Almeyda (Inter–Parma, both €16M fee); Luigi Sartor and Sebastiano Siviglia (Parma-Roma, both around €9M fee); Francesco Coco and Clarence Seedorf (Milan–Inter, both €29M fee); Davide Bombardini and Franco Brienza (Palermo–Roma, 50% rights both €5.5M fee); Gabriele Paoletti and Luigi Panarelli for Fontana–Frezza (Torino–Roma, 50% rights both €10.5M fee) in 2002; Rubén Maldonado and Gonzalo Martínez in January 2003. The scandal was a culmination of the period that the Italian media dubbed doping amministrativohttp://www.repubblica.it/2004/b/sezioni/sport/calcio/inchiestacrac/inchiestacrac/inchiestacrac.html A caccia del doping amministrativo tra plusvalenze e tasse non pagate 27 February 2004 24 April 2013 la Repubblica it (doping[-like] administration), bilanciopoli (balance sheet scandal), plusvalenze fittizie or plusvalenze fai-da-te (DIY profit).http://www.repubblica.it/2006/11/sezioni/sport/calcio/doping-bilanci/doping-bilanci/doping-bilanci.html Il "doping" nei conti dei big del pallone perdite complessive oltre i 68 milioni 9 November 2006 15 April 2013 la Repubblica it Bologna chairman Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara proclaimed his innocence and reported false accounting to the Italian Football Federation.http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Primo_Piano/2007/10_Ottobre/30/dopingamministrativo.shtml Doping amministrativo Roma colpevole, Lazio no 10 October 2007 24 April 2013 it Bologna, however, was also involved in cross-trading, as when the remaining 50% rights of Jonatan Binotto were acquired from Juventus by selling Giacomo Cipriani, Alessandro Gamberini and Alex Pederzoli in 2000 for the same total transfer fee, and for selling Binotto to Internazionale for Fabio Macellari in 2001. The trading Since the Italian Football Federation was unable to prove that the football clubs intended to "flop" the price of mature footballers, only deals involving youth players were punished.January 2014 Players received Fee June 2003 Milan Chiveo Martino Olivetti (50%) + €0.1M Paolo Sammarco (50%) €1.1M Milan Internazionale Matteo Deinite (50%) + €0.25M Salvatore Ferraro (50%)€1.75M Matteo Giordano (50%) + €0.225M Alessandro Livi (50%) €1.725M Ronny Diuk Toma (50%) + €0.25M Giuseppe Ticli (50%)€1.75MSimone Brunelli (50%) + €0.25M Marco Varaldi (50%)€1.75M Milan Parma Roberto Massaro (50%) Marco Donadel (50%) €2MA.C. Milan S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2003 (in Italian) Filippo Porcari (50%) Mirko Stefani (50%) €1M Luca Ferretti (50%) Davide Favaro (50%) €1M Milan Sampdoria Fee Ikechukwu Kalu (50%) + €1M cash Luca Antonini (50%) €2M Torino Ternana Emanuele Calaiò (redeem 50%) Alessandro Cibocchi (redeem 50%) July 2003RegginaUdinese Gonzalo Martínez (50%)Alessandro Pierini Andrea Sottil (50%) January 2004 Genoa Udinese Mohammed Gargo (50%)Valon Behrami (50%) Vittorio Micolucci (50%) Rodrigue Boisfer (50%) The investigation In 2004, Roma and Lazio, followed by Milan and Internazionale, were investigated for false accounting.https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/sensi-investigation-rocks-roma-23117.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/sensi-investigation-rocks-roma-23117.html 2022-05-01 subscription live Sensi investigation rocks Roma The Independenthttp://www.repubblica.it/2004/l/sezioni/sport/calcio/dopa/dopa/dopa.html Calcio, doping amministrativo indagate anche Milan e Inter 30 December 2004 24 April 2013 la Repubblica it Moreover, the liquidator of Como pointed out its failure to Preziosi. The accusation suggested that the owner transferred Como's assets to Genoa at an uneconomical price. On A.C. Fiorentina's side, the liquidator from the Court of Florence found that the date of player profit and cross-trading were wrong on the balance sheet.http://www.fiorentina.it/oggetti/19903.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20030406010816/http://www.fiorentina.it/oggetti/19903.pdf 6 April 2003 4 February 2003 17 November 2016 PROCURA DELLA REPUBBLICA PRESSO IL TRIBUNALE DI FIRENZE Re-published by Fiorentina's fans site it Perugia's failure was also under investigation.http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/39.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_33588_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf C.U. N°24/CDN (2012–13) 28 September 2012 17 November 2016 FIGC CDN it 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044129/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/39.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_33588_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf dead The fall of Spezia Calcio was also linked to its previous owner Internazionale. A separate charge related to Brunelli's was exposed in 2007; Brunelli claimed that the transfer document did not contain his signature and that he knew nothing when he was transferred from Milan to Internazionale. Brunelli was banned for two months from football, even though he was retired at the time. Brunelli's agent was charged and dismissed, and Brunelli sued Internazionale for negligence, forcing Brunelli to retire. This trial was also dismissed.http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2007/maggio/30/Caso_Brunelli_Tribunale_assolve_Inter_co_9_070530041.shtml Caso-Brunelli Il Tribunale assolve l' Inter 30 May 2007 26 January 2010 Corriere della Sera it Lazio was acquitted in 2007 along with Juventus.http://fourfourtwo.com/news/italy/42950/default.aspx Moggi was cleared in a false accounting case 24 November 2009 24 April 2013 Four Four Two Roma was fined by the court of Rome. In January 2007, the prosecutor exposed the alleged false account of Crespo (cash-plus player swap) and Domenico Morfeo (failure of Fiorentina).http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Squadre/Inter/Primo_Piano/2007/01_Gennaio/26/contratti.shtml Crespo-Morfeo, indagine sui contratti 2007-01-26 2010-01-26 La Gazzetta dello Sport it During an ongoing investigation of Parma,http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=28&a=166400 https://web.archive.org/web/20110911143746/http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=28&a=166400 Caso Parmalat, Laguardia: "Amauri credeva di essere del Napoli, e non di proprietà del Parma" 9 February 2010 11 September 2011 5 May 2010 Calciomercato.com (Archived by www.areanapoli.it) it dead dmy-all a football player, Amauri, was signed by Parma from Napoli as a free agent, but a massive agent fee was also paid. Amauri did not have EU citizenship and Italian clubs were commonly buying the non-EU registration quota from other clubs. While the clubs sold the brand to their subsidiaries and mortgaged them, such as Inter Milan on "Inter Brand", A.C. Milan on "Milan Entertainment", A.S. Roma on "Soccer S.A.S. di Brand Management", and "S.S. Lazio Marketing & Communication S.p.A.", the move prompted Guardia di Finanza to visit Co.Vi.Soc. of Italian Football Federation to collect information.http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2007/gennaio/31/Cessione_del_marchio_Guardia_Finanza_co_9_070131061.shtml Cessione del marchio La Guardia di Finanza fa visita alla Covisoc 31 January 2007 21 January 2016 Corriere della Sera it However, no further action was taken. Sporting Sentences The following punishments were given to individuals: AC Milanhttp://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/77.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_18998_StrilloAreaStampa_upfDownload.pdf COMUNICATO STAMPA 12 June 2008 26 January 2010 FIGC it The company: €90,000 fine. Adriano Galliani (Vice-chairman): €60,000 fine. Internazionale The company: €90,000 fine. Massimo Moratti (Owner) €10,000 fine. Gabriele Oriali (technical director) €10,000 fine. Mauro Gambaro (ex-CEO) €20,000 fine. Rinaldo Ghelfi (ex-CEO and by-then vice-chairman) €20,000 fine. Sampdoria The company: €36,000 fine. Giuseppe Marotta (director): €20,000 fine. Riccardo Garrone (owner and chairman): €18,000 fine. Genoahttp://www.figc.it/it/204/19037/2008/06/News.shtml Deferimenti:archiviazione per Genoa, Udinese e Reggina 18 June 2008 24 April 2013 FIGC it 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003413/http://www.figc.it/it/204/19037/2008/06/News.shtml deadhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL1827017320080618 Three Serie A clubs fined for false accounting Paul Virgo Reuters https://web.archive.org/web/20121012063609/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/06/18/uk-soccer-italy-fines-idUKL1827017320080618 2012-10-12 deviatedhttp://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/85.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_19036_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf Comunicato Ufficiale (C.U.) N°66/CDN (2007–08) 18 June 2008 10 August 2011 Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Commissione Disciplinare Nazionale (CDN) it 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024226/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/85.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_19036_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf deadhttp://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/?action=read&id=116072 Udine, indagati Pozzo e Pierpaolo Marino 31 July 2008 10 August 2011 Tutto Mercato Web it The company: €400,000 fine. Giovanni Blondet: €15,000 fine. Enrico Preziosi (owner and chairman): Banned 4 months and €15,000 fine. Reggina The company: €400,000 fine. Pasquale Foti: Banned 1 month and €20,000 fine. Udinese The company: €400,000 fine. Franco Soldati (chairman): Banned 3 months and €30,000 fine. Pierpaolo Marino (by-then vice-chairman): €15,000 fine. Chievohttp://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/?action=read&id=112848 Plusvalenze: Chievo Verona multato - TUTTOmercatoWEB.comhttp://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/39.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_19195_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf C.U. N°3/CDN (2008–09) 10 July 2008 17 November 2016 FIGC CDN it 13 March 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110313101103/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/39.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_19195_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf dead The company: €50,000 fine. Luca Campedelli (owner): €40,000 fine. Giovanni Sartori (director of sports): €15,000 fine. Parma Stefano Tanzi (chairman): Banned 6 months, €10,000 fine.http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/82.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_21579_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf Comunicato Ufficiale N°105/CDN (2008–09) 22 June 2009 7 June 2017 FIGC it 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032211/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/82.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_21579_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf dead Palermo Maurizio Zamparini (owner and chairman): Banned 6 monthshttp://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/89.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_24964_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf C.U. N°91/CDN (2009–10) 9 June 2010 17 November 2016 FIGC CDN it https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190324/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/89.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_24964_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf 3 March 2016 dead dmy-all Rino Foschi (director of sports): Banned 3 months Ternana The company: €20,000 fine. Luigi Agarini (chairman): Banned 7 months Luca Ferramosca (chairman): Banned 6 months Giovanni Lombardo (CEO, it Amministratore Delegato): Banned 3 months Stefano Dominicis(CEO, it Amministratore Unico): Banned 6 months Caso Como–Genoa Enrico Preziosi Banned 5 yearshttp://www.legaseriea.it/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=03f6f2cc-c6e1-4ed7-a53a-ac4acf284bb9&groupId=10192 Comunicato ufficiale no. 379 11 June 2007 25 May 2011 Lega Calcio it pdf dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101220004820/http://www.legaseriea.it/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=03f6f2cc-c6e1-4ed7-a53a-ac4acf284bb9&groupId=10192 20 December 2010 Massimo D'Alma Banned 3 years Aleardo Luciano Guido Dall'Oglio Banned 6 months Genoa: €150,000 fine. Aftermath Sampdoria denied any wrongdoing in the Kalu–Antonini transfer.http://www.sampdoria.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3404&Itemid=73 Comunicato stampa: chiusa la vicenda plusvalenze 12 June 2008 24 April 2013 UC Sampdoria it Zamparini, the chairman of Palermo, insisted that the fine was heavy, as the cross-trading was under previous ownership (Sensi). The club chose to defer to amortize the €10 million transfer fee of Franco Brienza (like every other club on flopped signing prior to 2002), instead of writing off €10 million immediately in order to appear in the 2002–03 financial year.http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieA/Palermo/notizie/09-06-2010/zamparini-foschi-inibiti-7130426570.shtml Zamparini e Foschi inibiti 9 June 2010 24 April 2013 La Gazzetta dello Sport it Failure to recapitalize and balance sheet related scandals still occurred, namely Treviso, S.S.C. Venezia, Gallipoli Acireale, Pergocremahttp://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/87.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_28197_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf COMUNICATO UFFICIALE N. 85/CDN (2010/2011) 2013-04-24 2015-05-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091436/http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/87.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_28197_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf dead and board members of the clubs were given heavy fines. Some research had criticized the effectiveness of the indicators of FIGC's Covisoc on the actual financial health of the football club.THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL INDICATORS IN THE LIFE OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL CLUBS See also List of Italian football transfers summer 2000 (co-ownership) List of Italian football transfers summer 2001 (co-ownership) References 30em Category:2004 scandals Category:2002–03 in Italian football Category:2003–04 in Italian football Category:2007–08 in Italian football Category:History of football in Italy Category:Association football controversies Category:2008–09 in Italian football Category:2009–10 in Italian football Category:Sports scandals in Italy