Ravezzani promises bombshells in Calciopoli documentary: “Inside job at Juventus” | OneFootball

TeleLombardia director Fabio Ravezzani previews a documentary that sheds the light on some of the aspects of the Calciopoli scandal that demoted Juventus to Serie B in 2006.

The Bianconeri were accused of establishing illegal bonds with the referees at the time, and were relegated to the second division following a brief summer trial. They were also stripped of their two previous Serie A titles, while the club’s general director, Luciano Moggi, was banned for life.

This decision caused immeasurable damage to the club from a sporting and financial perspective, while a host of star players, like Fabio Cannavaro and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, left the club in search of greener pastures.

Why Juventus paid the ultimate price in Calciopoli scandal

While Juventus suffered an absolute catastrophe, other clubs like Milan and Lazio were only slapped with a point deduction, despite being brought to trial.

Moreover, Inter emerged as the ultimate beneficiary, as they were awarded a title they now won on the pitch, while the absence of Juventus allowed them to kickstart a winning dynasty.

Therefore, many Juventus fans have accused their rivals of plotting their downfall, especially when later transcripts revealed that former Inter president Giacinto Facchetti had also been in contact with referee designator Paolo Bergamo at the time.

Nevertheless, Ravezzani has released a new documentary that unveiled interesting new evidence, proving that Juventus were the victim of an internal conspiracy, with some people at the club taking advantage of Umberto Agnelli’s death to cause havoc.

“There are sensational wiretaps that no one has ever heard from people involved who had previously refused to discuss the details,” said the journalist in his interview with TuttoJuve.

“This includes former minister Melandri, prosecutor Narducci, referees, players, presidents, and Meani himself, who was Juventus’s greatest adversary at the time on the Moggi front.

“Plus, leading Italian and international journalists are reconstructing the story with new insights and perspectives,” added Ravezzani.

“Certainly, in light of these ten episodes, a completely different sporting truth emerges than what has been told so far. Juventus was the victim of a sensational inside job.

“Despite violations not unlike those of other clubs, Umberto Agnelli’s death (in 2004) allowed for a settling of scores that cost the club relegation due to a lack of will to defend itself, unlike what happened to other clubs.

“The criminal investigation was shortsighted because it was primarily interested in targeting and prosecuting the most important club, and this often happens in investigations.

“The compromising wiretaps were forwarded to the sports judiciary only within Juventus. But there was still room for a defence that could have even avoided relegation.”

The Juventus inside job & John Elkann’s rise

Although this ensued during the transition period that saw John Elkann emerge as the bona fide head of the Agnelli family, Ravezzani believes that the Exor CEO wasn’t at fault for the situation.

“There’s no doubt that at the end of our investigation, any objective person would conclude that the sporting decisions were the result of enormous pressure from the most powerful economic and political groups that influenced the judges.

“Juventus wasn’t properly defended at the time and ended up paying for everyone. Not so much because of John Elkann, who was too young, but because of the decisions of the old hands who manipulated the transitional regime. 

“Certainly, on a sporting level, knowledge of all the new wiretaps we found would have provided a different picture of the whole situation.

“It wasn’t just Juventus, which was unscrupulously tampering with the refereeing profession, but all the major clubs were calling, requesting referees they liked, or reporting those they didn’t like. While we can acknowledge that Swiss phone cards remain a dark issue, the enormous disparity in convictions between clubs remains a colossal injustice.”

Ravezzani added that the documentary is available on www.chili.com, claiming that Amazon backtracked on their decision to upload due to the controversial content.

The documentary is titled ‘Calciopoli ultimo atto: le nuove verità nascoste’.