One of the most well-known football teams in Italy is Juventus, who are based in Turin, but despite their impressive performance on the pitch, the 2006-2007 season saw them relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history.
In fact, Juventus finished the previous season at the top of the Serie A league, their relegation, and an initial deficit of 9 points, was due to a scandal that rocked Italian football and saw sanctions applied to a total of 4 first division clubs, although Juventus was the most affected and the only one that was finally relegated.
Juventus and the other three teams (AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio) were found guilty of influencing the game in their favor by appointing favorable referees for important matches.
The sentence handed down to the four clubs was draconian to say the least: Juventus, which bore the brunt, were stripped of their previous 2 league titles, banned from the Champions League, relegated to Serie C1 and scored 30 points, while the other teams were relegated to Serie B with fewer points deducted.
On appeal, all the teams saw their sentences reduced, so that only Juventus was relegated, but to Serie B, and the 30-point sanction was initially reduced to 17 and then only 9, the equivalent of winning 3 games without awarding points.
Relegation saw several players leave Juventus; Emerson and Fabio Cannavaro both went to Real Madrid, where Juventus manager Fabio Capello had already left, while FC Barcelona signed Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram.
However, some players have remained loyal and the team’s performance in Serie B has been impressive. Although they drew in the first match, Juventus won each of the next eight games with just one goal conceded and remained unbeaten until January.
At the time of writing this article in mid-April, Juventus have only lost 2 games, drawn 8 and won 22. With 10 more games to play, they are not unbeatable due to their 9-point deficit, but if they continue to perform at this level, they will surely re-enter the top division in the 2007-2008 season.
Let’s hope Juventus return to their former glory, but perhaps most importantly, avoid behavior that is clearly in breach of good sporting conduct.