The 2015 Italian football scandal, or ''Dirty Soccer'', was a scandal that involved rigged matches in 2014–15 season, involving Calcio Catania. The multimillion-dollar match-fixing scandal was suspected to be orchestrated by 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful mafia syndicate in Italy.

Origins and etymology

The scandal first came to light as a consequence of investigations of prosecutors by the Italian football agency, Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali. On 19 May 2015, a total of 50 people were arrested in Italy on suspicion of match-fixing and 70 people being detained in total. The team that was under investigation was Catania, who fixed five matches so that they could remain in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. On 23 June 2015, the team's president, Antonio Pulvirenti, and six others were arrested for match-fixing. Six days later, it was revealed that Pulvirenti "paid £71,000 to fix five matches". On 14 July, the FIGC announced that next season's Serie B would be delayed for two weeks due to the ongoing match-fixing scandal against Catania.

Club punishments

On 20 August 2015, the Italian Football Federation announced that Catania was relegated to the third tier with 12 points deducted in the Lega Pro and fined €150,000 fine, the worst punishment of any team involved. Two other teams, Savona and

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, were relegated to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

for match-fixing.

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was also stripped of the 2014–15 Lega Pro championship and promotion to the

2015–16 Serie B The 2015–16 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 84th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 16 returning from the 2014–15 season, 4 promoted from Lega Pro, and ...

Sentences

Club

People

Other notes

The sentence was long disputed because of the severity of the punishment meted out to Catania compared to the other teams involved. According to the court, the conduct of team managers was considered in all cases. While not real match-fixing, it was a violation of sporting principles. On 14 July, FIGC announced the next season's Serie B would be delayed for two weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015 Italian football scandal

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Match fixing History of football in Italy Sports betting scandals Association football controversies Sports scandals in Italy