03.06.2011
Signori arrested in Italy match-fixing probe
Others arrested included current players in Serie B and C, executives for lower-level clubs and betting operators.
The police operation was based in Cremona and arrests were carried out in more than 10 cities across the peninsula. Matches under investigation included some involving Atalanta and Siena, prosecutors said, which could put the two clubs' recent promotion back into Serie A at risk.
There was a failed attempt to fix a Serie A match between then-European champion Inter Milan and Lecce at the San Siro in March, Cremona prosecutor Roberto Di Martino said. Inter won 1-0.
In all, 18 matches — mostly in Serie B and C — are under investigation, and Italian soccer federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi has already opened a sports inquiry into the matter.
The revelations came amid a spate of betting scandals scattered throughout European soccer leagues, with the latest cases in Germany and Finland.
Signori was the Lazio captain in the mid-1990s and led Serie A in scoring in three seasons. He also made 28 appearances for Italy from 1992-95, scoring seven goals.
Signori, who retired in 2006, allegedly led a group of bettors in Bologna that had a direct impact on the match-fixing, according to the ANSA news agency. He was put under house arrest.
"Don't you have any pity in this situation? Have some mercy. I can't say anything. I will meet with my lawyer and then he'll speak for me," Signori told ANSA.
Di Martino told a news conference that the investigation began following a Serie C match between Cremonese and Paganese in November. Cremonese players allegedly had their drinks spiked with drugs so they wouldn't play well, and several players felt ill afterward.
"One player was involved in an unexplainable car accident, after which Cremonese registered an official complaint with the police," Di Martino said, adding that the drug used was a sleep medication.
The betting ring is suspected of paying off one or more players on a team to fix a match, and then placing large bets on legal bookmaking websites mostly based in Asia, to avoid betting being suspended for abnormal patterns.
"The inquiry is focused on this season, but my impression is that this went on for years," Di Martino said.
Others arrested reportedly include two players with Serie B's Ascoli — defender Vittorio Micolucci and midfielder Vincenzo Sommese — Benevento goalkeeper Marco Paoloni, plus former Serie B and C player Gianfranco Parlato.
In addition, some 30 people are under investigation for alleged involvement, including Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and former Serie A player Stefano Bettarini, ANSA said.
One of Italy's biggest soccer betting scandals came in 1980, resulting in numerous arrests and bans for club officials and top players, including Paolo Rossi, who returned to lead Italy to the 1982 World Cup title.
In 2006, a major match-fixing scandal restricted to club and referee officials — not involving players — resulted in Juventus getting relegated to Serie B for a season, plus point penalties for several other Serie A clubs.
Multiple legal cases and appeals from the 2006 scandal are still under way.
"We certainly didn't need this right now," said Italy and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. "But let's wait and see until we know something more definitive before we issue judgment."
Damiano Tommasi, the new president of the Italian players' association and a former Roma player, called it "one of the ugliest pages" in Italian soccer history.
"Every once in a while we have to turn these pages. Let's hope we can do so quickly," Tommasi said. "It's the players that will end up on the front pages, but I think something larger will emerge. I'm telling (the players) to be careful."
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FIFA needs reform from outside: Australia
Senator Mark Arbib was also critical of FIFA's bid process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, a process in which Australia was humiliated when it received just one FIFA vote to host the 2022 tournament won by Qatar.
"Seeing what I have seen in terms of the bidding process, and now we hear about collusion between bidding nations, it's pretty clear it wasn't a fair playing field," Arbib told ABC radio.
"And I don't think that any government, knowing what we know, would -- without reform of the FIFA organisation, reform of the bidding process -- no government would want to put funds into any bidding process.
"FIFA need to clean up their game and until they do no government should have confidence in their processes."
Sepp Blatter, 75, was re-elected head of world football on Wednesday after his only rival Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam was forced to withdraw amid claims he tried to bribe voters with cash-filled envelopes.
After months of explosive corruption allegations, delegates at FIFA's 61st Congress returned the unopposed Swiss by a landslide of 186 votes out of 203 despite a call for a postponement of the election by England's Football Association.
Australian football's governing body, the Football Federation Australia (FFA), voted in favour of Blatter's re-election and indicated it supported reform from within.
But the sports minister said an external voice should be heard, in the same way the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did after the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City which were tainted by a votes for bribes scandal.
"I think they (FIFA) need to bring in someone from outside the organisation," Arbib said. "And they need to take action to reform their organisation."
"And certainly the President Sepp Blatter said he would do that yesterday and the football federations around the world need to hold him to account.
"My view is there needs to be significant reform at FIFA, at every level."
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S. Dakota residents evacuate ahead of dam releases
Most of the approximately 3,000 people living in low-lying areas of Pierre and Fort Pierre had left homes, and others loading their belongings onto pickup trucks said they'd be gone by Gov. Dennis Daugaard's unofficial deadline of 8 p.m. No one was ordered to leave home ahead of Friday's planned dam releases, but it appeared few were willing to take their chances.
Water releases from the Oahe Dam were expected to increase slightly starting Friday morning and gradually rise until Tuesday, when water levels were projected to crest four feet higher, or about two feet below the levee top. Officials have kept the releases steady for nearly a week as people moved possessions to higher ground, placed sandbags around their homes and arranged for other places to live.
A similar release schedule was planned starting Saturday at Gavin's Point Dam upstream of Dakota Dunes, where the water level is expected to eventually rise another seven feet by June 14, again cresting about two feet below the tops of levees.
Daugaard and other officials said emergency earthen levees being built to protect the threatened areas should be completed in time to stop the rising water, but the governor warned people not to assume the levees would hold.
"While we hope the levees will provide protection for property, we urge that people not place themselves in danger or become complacent because a levee that is holding today is just holding today," Daugaard said.
In North Dakota, the Souris River at Minot crested Thursday after about 10,000 residents had been evacuated two days earlier.
In Montana, which has been by widespread flooding from heavy rains in the past couple of weeks, federal officials started ramping up water releases Thursday from Fort Peck Dam. Officials warned dozens of residents downstream their homes could flood when the peak is released in the next two weeks.
And in Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon warned that the river there would rise to "unprecedented" levels. Residents in the northwestern part of the state, who have plenty experience dealing with floods, were preparing Thursday to either evacuate or help fill more than 75,000 sandbags.
Back in South Dakota, Ed Stutesman of Pierre said it was a sad day Thursday as he finished moving things out of his house.
"When you leave your own place, it's a different life. Thirty-five years I've lived here. Now I've got to go live someplace else," Stutesman said.
Steve Ellwein said he worked hard to develop a business and build a nice house on the river near Fort Pierre, but now he and his wife had to move out.
"I moved back in my old bedroom in my parents' house. I'm saying what's wrong with that picture," Ellwein said.
The mayors of Pierre and Fort Pierre said they have mostly finished protecting water, electrical and other utilities against the rising water. Law officers will soon start patrolling the emergency levees to make sure they do not leak.
"I think we're about as prepared as we can be," Fort Pierre Mayor Sam Tidball said.
Tidball urged people to stay away from the fast-flowing water in the river, noting that no lives have been lost yet.
"I urge everyone to continue working together and with law enforcement because things will get tense as the water rises," Tidball said. "We'll get through this situation, and we don't want any loss of life."
Kristi Turman, director of the state Office of Emergency Management, said 3 million sandbags have been sent to Pierre, Fort Pierre and Dakota Dunes in the week since officials learned releases would be increased substantially from the dams. About 900 troops from the South Dakota National Guard have helped the cities prepare for the water, she said.
Officials said levees in Dakota Dunes should be completed by Saturday.
Daugaard said if the levees hold after the water rises, residents might be able to return to their homes.
Eric Stasch, operations manager at Oahe Dam, said the levees, built by packing dirt to a height of about six feet, are designed to hold up against the rising water.
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