Serie A punishments

[zjac7]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/5164194.stm

Juventus: Stripped of '05 and '06 scudetto championships; relegated to Serie B and deducted 30 points; removed from Champions League.

Fiorentina: Relegated to Serie B and deducted 12 points; removed from Champions League.

Lazio: Relegated to Serie B and deducted 7 points.

AC Milan: Stay in Serie A, but deducted 15 points; removed from Champions League.

So, uh, can this game get fun again now? Please?

[Discrim]

holy ...how do you say Juve Fire Sale in Italian?

[DEAD!]

So does that mean that Juventus starts the season with -30? They could have a hard time just staying in Serie B let alone promoting to Serie A.

[zjac7]

So does that mean that Juventus starts the season with -30? They could have a hard time just staying in Serie B let alone promoting to Serie A.

That's exactly what it means. Plus, with the fire sale they won't be able to keep their star players, and they'll probably have a tough time signing new players. Juve is in pretty bad shape.

[Brian in Boston]

So does that mean that Juventus starts the season with -30?

That's precisely what it means. As a result, Juventus' stay in the lower divisions of Italian soccer will likely last at least two seasons.

[cappital92]

As a Lazio fan I hang my head in shame.

[DEAD!]

So does that mean that Juventus starts the season with -30? They could have a hard time just staying in Serie B let alone promoting to Serie A.

That's exactly what it means. Plus, with the fire sale they won't be able to keep their star players, and they'll probably have a tough time signing new players. Juve is in pretty bad shape.

So how about for next season, MLB gives the Red Sox and Yankees "-20" wins to start the season?

Even with the 15 point deduction, AC Milan, assuming they still keep many of their player, still have a decent shot at winning the Serie A championship next season.

[Jigga]

Damn, this is almost as bad as the NCAA "Death Penalty" that SMU got back in the 80s. At least they get to keep playing, but they're going to have to sell off everything but the kitchen sink.

Serves 'em right.

[DEAD!]

Damn, this is almost as bad as the NCAA "Death Penalty" that SMU got back in the 80s. At least they get to keep playing, but they're going to have to sell off everything but the kitchen sink.

Serves 'em right.

Well they have to keep the sink ....... to wash their dirty hands from this scandal......

[fonz]

Its a shame to see this happen in Italy's top level of soccer. Those teams should be back to normal in a few years though I'd say.

[Brian in Boston]

Its a shame to see this happen in Italy's top level of soccer.

It's a shame for the fans. The teams have received exactly what they deserved. They chose to undermine the integrity of the sport and they should have to pay for it.

Frankly, some clubs got off lightly compared to what had originally been discussed as possible punishments. Originally, it was rumored that the courts were considering knocking Juventus down to Serie C and AC Milan to Serie B.

[WJMorris3]

Okay, I have a question.

Who officially gets credit for these titles? I'd assume AC Milan gets them both, as they finished 2nd both years.

[MrAsterisk]

Who officially gets credit for these titles? I'd assume AC Milan gets them both, as they finished 2nd both years.

Since they're "mired in scandal" as well, it could just be a case of "championship voided".

[TFoA]

Who officially gets credit for these titles?  I'd assume AC Milan gets them both, as they finished 2nd both years.

Since they're "mired in scandal" as well, it could just be a case of "championship voided".

Or in the case of an (outside) AC Milan fan, hell yeah we'll take it

But yeah, this is a sad day for Italian football, especially for Juve. THey basically got SMU-type owned. That's gonna hurt them for years to come.

[Dave Ship]

This is my point of view.

The punishment for Juventus is just a masked Serie C. It's hard for'em just to stay in Serie B not think to stay two years more.

The 2005/2006 should be property of F.C. Internazionale, because for that season A.C. Milan received a 44 points less that anyway keep'em in UEFA Cup. I agree with the repeal of the Scudetto 2004/2005 to Juventus. The 2005/2006 season has "just" be not assigned.

Diehard Lazio's supporters are happy about this decision because they really hate their actually owner Lotito so they prefer the team in Serie B than to be lead by the owner i talk before.

I think is a year "0" for Italian soccer. It's sad because we're losing a lot of champions that are moving in foreign countries. Especially now that we won the World Cup. But MLB and NHL known what i'm talking about.

At the moment just F.C. Internazionale has got money to buy some champions. In few years we'll be ready to bring back some good soccer.

Champions League: Internazionale, Roma, Chievo Verona and Palermo.

Uefa Cup: Livorno, Empoli, Parma. But Empoli hasn't got a stadium with European requests so Milan will take his place.

[harperdc]

Soccernet article says none of the four teams will be in Europe next year, so it would be Ascoli than Udinese who would get the spots for the UEFA Cup.

The teams also still have three days to appeal the decision.

--------

good. Now they need to go through the whole system, politically, and make sure this can never happen again. Something is wrong when the second-in-command of one of the two biggest teams runs the league, and the owner of that team is also the president of the country.

As for the fates of the teams, Fiorentina might be the worst off because they'll have the biggest talent drain. with Luca Toni gone they'll struggle to get back out of Serie B. This shouldn't effect Juve or Milan too much - both are too big to cripple in this way, they would need the European soccer equivalent of SMU's "Death Penalty" - for SMU it was no bowl games, for these two it would have to be no European play ever again and they're only banned for this year.

Fair odds one of the two makes it through the Coppa Nazionale in '06/07 and into the UEFA Cup qualifications that way. Especially with no European play to worry about...

The only reason players would leave is because they would think the teams couldn't bounce back into the top of Serie A again, and that just isn't true. There's no NFL or NBA-esque salary cap, so those top teams can continue to roll in the money and will probably be back into the European places after their first season back in Serie A. They're only being penalized points this coming year in the Serie B, but considering the level of play there (re: poor) if they can each hold on to half of their stars then both Milan and Juve should make it back out alive; Lazio and Fiorentina will probably get back out the next year only because the promotion only has three teams IIRC, though I wouldn't be shocked to see them playing for the last spot.

[BJ Sands]

At least they get to keep playing, but they're going to have to sell off everything but the kitchen sink.

Serves 'em right.

Sell? Ha! The contracts of the players on the three demoted teams are no longer valid, making them free agents.

No transfer fees will be paid for players from Lazio, Fiorentina and Juve.

[NJTank]

If MLS is smart they would try to bowl over all these Italain stars and bring them here. There are manuy Italians in the USA taht were rooting for them if they can bring some of tehse stars to MLS it would help the league out immensly.

[gosioux76]

Those teams should be back to normal in a few years though I'd say.

A few years might be optimistic. I believe these teams are publicly traded entities, which is why they chose to announce this after the markets closed to avoid a crash. That could mean that not only will they have trouble keeping their players, they won't be able to afford adequate replacements for years.

And Tank, the idea that Italian stars would even consider MLS is ridiculous. Those players would be doing themselves an injustice by doing anything other than moving elsewhere in Italy or to one of the other top European leagues. Hell, the one-year-old Australian league is a better choice.

[harperdc]

Hell, the one-year-old Australian league is a better choice.

No it's not. At least not compared to MLS. There's even less money to be had in Australia - a one-year-old league - than the US and MLS - which is now in its 11th season IIRC. I could possibly see Red Bull NY trying to go after *a* star (Alessandro del Piero? nah, he's been with Juve too long to leave over this, but somebody of his age) because they've certainly got the money to burn.