Totonero 1980 or Totonero was a match-fixing scandal in Italy in 1980 in Serie A and Serie B. The participants in this scandal were

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

, Bologna, Lazio, Milan, and Perugia of Serie A and

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and Taranto of Serie B, all of whom were declared guilty after the trials. Notably, Paolo Rossi was suspended for three years (reduced to two on appeal), and upon his return helped Italy in their successful

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

campaign.

Background

In 1946, Italy introduced a state-run pool for citizens to bet on football, called the ''totocalcio''. It was the only form of legalized football betting in the country until the late 1990s. For fans to win, they needed to correctly pick the outcome of 12 games, making it virtually impossible for the pool to be fixed since so many matches were involved. Because of this, the only way to bet on a single match or the winners of events like the Coppa Italia or Serie A was to bet with illegal bookmakers. The plan was created in 1979 by restaurant owner Alvaro Trinca and his supplier Massimo Cruciani at Trinca's restaurant in Rome. The restaurant was a popular spot for many Lazio players, who agreed to fix matches in exchange for a cut of the money. The first match arranged to be fixed was a friendly between Lazio and Palermo on 1 November 1979, which ended in a draw as planned. However, many of the games did not end as planned, and Trinca and Cruciani reportedly lost over 100 million lire by February 1980 (worth around US$117,000 in 1980 dollars or over US$400,000 in 2022). On 1 March 1980, Trinca and Cruciani filed a report with Rome's Public Prosecutor with the names of 27 players and 13 clubs across Serie A and Serie B.f> Trinca was arrested eight days later and Cruciani three days after that. On 23 March, the Guardia di Finanza arrested 13 players as well as Milan president

Felice Colombo Felice Colombo (born 24 August 1937) is an Italian businessman, past chairman of A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, It ...

immediately after the final whistle of that day's matches. All of those arrested were acquitted of criminal charges because there was no law against match fixing in Italy at the time.<

Punishments

Club punishments

* Milan (Serie A); relegated to Serie B.Italian FA under emergency rule
BBC Sport, 16 May 2006. * Lazio (Serie A); relegated to Serie B (10 million lire fine and 5 point penalty in original punishment). *

(Serie A); 5 point penalty in Serie A 1980–81. * Bologna (Serie A); 5 point penalty in Serie A 1980–81. * Perugia (Serie A); 5 point penalty in Serie A 1980–81. *

(Serie B); 5 point penalty in Serie B 1980–81 (acquitted in original verdict). * Taranto (Serie B); 5 point penalty in Serie B 1980–81 (acquitted in original verdict).

Individual punishments

Presidents

(Milan); disbar. *

Tommaso Fabretti Tommaso is an Italian given name. It has also been used as a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name A * Tommaso Acquaviva d'Aragona (1600–1672), Roman Catholic prelate * Tommaso Aldrovandini (1653–1736), Italian painter of ...

(Bologna); 1 year suspension.

Players

* Stefano Pellegrini (Avellino); 6 year suspension. * (Lazio); 5 year suspension (disbar in original punishment). * Enrico Albertosi (Milan); 4 year suspension (disbar in original punishment). *

Bruno Giordano Bruno Giordano (; born 13 August 1956) is an Italian football manager and former player, who was deployed as a forward and is mostly remembered for winning the title of Serie A capocannoniere (top goalscorer) achieved with Lazio as well as for ...

(Lazio); 3 year and 6 month suspension (1 year and 6 months in original punishment). *

Lionello Manfredonia Lionello Manfredonia (; born 27 November 1956 in Rome) is an Italians, Italian former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender or midfielder. He is currently the leader of the youth sector at Bres ...

(Lazio); 3 year and 6 month suspension (1 year and 6 months in original punishment). * Carlo Petrini (Bologna); 3 year and 6 month suspension. *

Guido Magherini Guido Magherini (born 2 July 1951 in Florence) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 4 seasons (16 games without scoring) in Serie A for Lazio and A.C. Milan, and made nearly 200 appearances in Serie B. He represen ...

(Palermo); 3 year and 6 month suspension (1 year and 6 months in original punishment). *

Giuseppe Savoldi Giuseppe Savoldi (; born 21 January 1947) is an Italian former professional football player and coach, who played during the sixties, seventies and eighties, as a forward. A versatile attacker, he played club football in Italy for Atalanta, Bolo ...

(Bologna); 3 year and 6 month suspension. * (Taranto); 3 year suspension (1 year in original punishment). *

Luciano Zecchini Luciano Zecchini (; born 10 March 1949) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player, who played as a defender. Career Zecchini began playing football with local side Forlì. After a spell with lower-level sides Patro, he joine ...

(Perugia); 3 year suspension. *

Giuseppe Wilson Giuseppe Wilson (, born Joseph Wilson, 27 October 1945 – 6 March 2022), also known as Pino Wilson, was an Italian footballer who played as a centre back. Although born in Northern England, he played the majority of his football career in Italy ...

(Lazio); 3 year suspension (disbar in original punishment). * Paolo Rossi (Perugia); 2 years suspension (3 years in original punishment). * Franco Cordova (Avellino); 1 year and 2 month suspension. * Carlo Merlo (Lecce); 1 year suspension (1 year and 6 months in original punishment). *

Giorgio Morini Giorgio Morini (; born 11 October 1947) is an Italian former football manager and player, who played as a midfielder. As a player, Morini was part of the A.C. Milan team that won the 1978–79 Serie A title. He also coached the Italian football ...

(Milan); 1 year suspension. * Stefano Chiodi (Milan); 6 month suspension. *

Piergiorgio Negrisolo Piergiorgio Negrisolo (born 22 July 1950 in Viadana) is a retired Italian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Viadana, Lombardy, Negrisolo began playing football with Guastalla. He made his Serie A debut with Sampd ...

(Pescara); 5 month suspension (1 year in original punishment). *

Maurizio Montesi Maurizio Montesi (born September 19, 1952) is a retired Italian gymnast. He competed at the 1976 Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events with the best result of 29th place on the rings. References 1952 births Living people Sportspeople ...

(Lazio); 4 month suspension. *

Franco Colomba Franco Colomba (born 6 February 1955 in Grosseto) is an Italian football coach and former player, most recently in charge of Serie B club Livorno. Career Playing Colomba, a midfielder, started his playing career in Bologna, making his Serie A ...

(Bologna); 3 month suspension. *

Oscar Damiani Giuseppe "Oscar" Damiani (; born 15 June 1950) is an Italian former professional football winger. He is currently the agent of FC Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Honours Club *Juventus **Serie A: 1974–75 *A.C. Milan **Serie B ...

(Napoli); 3 month suspension (4 months in original punishment).

Aftermath

* Perugia and Taranto were both relegated from their respective leagues following the 1980–81 season. Perugia would have been relegated even without the point deduction, but Taranto would have been safe had they not been given the five point penalty. * All of the players whose bans were still active when Italy won the 1982 World Cup were reinstated soon after.

References

{{Football in Italy 1979–80 in Italian football Association football controversies History of football in Italy Sports betting scandals Sports scandals in Italy Match fixing