AC Milan win the Champions League. Yay.
As much as I didn’t want Liverpool, United or Chelsea to win the Champion’s League, while we were not invited to the party… I found it ridiculous that AC Milan were even IN the tournament, let alone winning it.
We are talking MATCH FIXING here. Its not some financial irregularity, although that is bad enough… they were involved in fixing the outcome of matches… in 2007. Its not the Black Sox scandal in baseball, when some players colluded to throw the World Series, because they were making little money and the owners were making fortunes.
Why would they be allowed to be in the Champion’s League if they fixed matches. What does that say to other teams? Teams struggling to stay up?
So, AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina, Regina and Juventus FIX matches…
AC Milan wins the CL, Lazio still make the CL next season despite a points deduction, Fiorentina make the UEFA Cup, and Regina don’t get relegated.
Gee… thats a tough penalty imposed!! Why wouldn’t other teams do the same?
When we are talking many millions of dollars in revenue to stay up in the top flight, and many more millions to make the CL or UEFA Cup, its worth the risk for some of the lesser teams. AC Milan doesn’t need to fix matches, nor does Juventus.
I just think its ridiculous that they were allowed into the Champion’s League after cheating, and an absolute shame that they actually won it. It sends all the wrong messages.
Want to look closer to home… West Ham.
To be honest, I am not sure what exactly they did wrong in bringing in Tevez and Mascherano, with the 3rd party owning them and all that… maybe someone can shed more light onto the wrongdoing for me. But at least they didn’t cheat on the pitch. They still have to win the matches to stay up. BUT… if they did gain any advantage on the pitch illegally, then they should have been relegated, not Sheffield United. There are stories now that Sheffield might be allowed to stay up, and we will have an “extra” team in the EPL next season to be fair. Well, if its unfair for them to have been sent down, then West Ham should go down.
West Ham should go down and Tevez should be on the Arsenal because we need him!!!
Just my 2 cents, rant over…
27 Responses to “It pays to cheat… sometimes.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
June 3rd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
After Italy had won the world cup there was talk that all would be forgiven and Milan & Juve would have been given a minor fine. Initially, they were given decent point penalties but then the points deduction were reduced. As a result, Juve are back in Serie A next year and will be in the Champions League the following year. Milan on the other hand win the CL. Inter on the other hand finally win a title fair and square and they are not being given any credit because Juve are not around. Strangeness.
Almost 14 years ago Marseille cheated and were almost completely dismantled. But Milan and Juve got off much lighter.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
100% agree Chris.
Series A is a joke. I have a feeling there have been many more teams involved in the match fixing other than those who were charged and found guilty. And it was nothing new. Those things happened before, and it will happen again in the future, not until the authority really go down hard on the offenders.
As for West Ham, the case IMO is simple - whatever they had done, if they were NOT guilty, they would not have got fined at the first place.
When they got fined for 5 mil, it could means only ONE thing - they HAD DONE SOMETHING illegally.
A lower division side Bury early this season was thrown out of the FA Cup due to fielding ONE inegiable player. West Ham, on the other hand, had been playing two ineligible players for a series of matches, yet with no point deducted?
I feel sorry for the Sheff Utd fans, they were ROBBED. Plain and simple.
In the end, money talks, rich clubs get away from anything.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Toronto has the largest population of Italians living outside of Italy. In fact their numbers are larger than some Italian Cities.
In speaking to those Italians I know, most of them are sick of the cheating, violence and other skullduggery inside the Italian Premiership. Those Italian immigrants that I know personally have all voted with their feet and no longer support Italian soccer choosing rather to watch and cheer on the EPL.
Toronto’s own Toronto FC (which beat the Colorado Rapids) is doing amazingly well in it’s home market. It has also been impacted by it’s European Soccer marketing and I’m sure a large portion of its supporters come from this emigrant Italian population.
The Italian soccer league as it stands today is a joke, in Italy and abroad. After their cheating scandal your right to state “It pays to cheat…” or at least on the outside it seems to be that way. True fans of the beautiful game all know and I’m sure look at the whole affair with a cynical view as do I.
As for Tevez at Arsenal we could do worse, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. 21 teams in the EPL is not going to happen.
Gerard
June 4th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
It also helps if an owner of the team, Belusconi, used to be prime minister.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
add ac milan to the list of teams who wish to add henry’s services.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Who wouldn’t want Thierry Henry.
I don’t know if I can deal with an entire Summer of all the big teams linked to TH14.
Which is exactly why Wenger needs a BIG signing NOW, to let Thierry know we mean business next season.
It would be another SLAP in the face of football to have Henry go to the team that CHEATED, then won the CL… and then bought HENRY.
That would be terrible.
June 5th, 2007 at 8:43 am
My advice to you all is stop reading this sh*t. We are over 2 months away from the new season and the chances are Wenger will buy in late August and these rumours will turn out to be nothing more than the usual crap.
If Barcelona really thought they could get Henry they would make a bid, not ask all their players to beg for him through the papers. Henry is clever, he wants to stay at Arsenal but he wants a more competitive team, so he says “I am at Arsenal, for now”. He i splaying mind games with Wenger, but I doubt it will make any difference. If he wanted to go to Barcelona he’d have gone last year as Arsenal were never going to win anything this season anyway. He won’t go to Italy, it’s boring, sh*tty football that no-one is interested in anymore - apart from the fact it’s corrupt from top to bottom.
So stop making a big deal out of this drivel, read it with humour and treat as toilet paper.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:11 am
For once, I hope you are right DannyT.
Hard not to look at the rumor mill… and harder to see the non-sense about Cesc leaving if Wenger leaves, Cesc wanting to play for Barca someday, Henry linked to Barca, Milan, and all that jazz.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Yes, it’s hard not to read the papers, Stag, but remember papers are in the business of selling papers. News outlets are in the business of getting readers & viewers so as to make money for their advertisers, so of course you’ll see Henry being linked with all the big clubs b/c it creates a “buzz” & “interest” to read the apers & stories.
If Henry were to leave (which is NOT going to happen), 17 million & Eto’o still wouldn’t be enough, IMO.
I also don’t think Wenger’s leaving. I think he’ll sign an extension b/c of the groundwork he’s laid at Arsenal. He doesn’t strike me as the type of man that would put all this faith & effort into trying to establish youth & then walk away from it a year or two. I think he’d be the type to want to try & see his plans to fruition.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
over the past year there has been the match fixing and if i’m not mistaken quite a bit of violence in italian soccer. Wasn’t the EPL (or first division whatever) kicked out of europe for like five years for just the stadium violence in the 80″s?
Its hard to believe that anyone thinks that serie A is not a joke. They have about five teams in the country that would even be inthe top flight in England or Spain.
Two of those were caught cheating!
I say throw them out of all international club comps till they can prove that the clubs are honest and the fans will be safe.
I won’t watch that boring ass league anyway so what do I care.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Test… Curtisimo?
Sorry, checking to see if it now posts my handle rather than my name… now, back to the thread…
June 5th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Well, it wasn’t just regular “stadium violence.” It was stadium violence topped off by the Heysel Disaster.
June 5th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Actually that Henry comment was quite interesting. He was relaxed in a t-shirt, with the mike dangling from his hand in between words.. he casually brought the mike up close to his mouth and said those words “I am at arsenal, for now”. Simple but open-ended. A positive view on that is that it was a harmless comment. A negative view is the one that the media is jumping on. But I believe this might be more like his stand last year when he wanted Arsenal to show more desire & ambition and he didn’t want them to take things for granted.
I do wish the truth comes out one day. Because I do believe that no one from Barca has actually talked with Henry. Yet this is a news that does not go away.
I hope I am right in that this is just nonsense news. But curious to see who will be signed by Wenger and whether I will have heard of that player or not.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:56 am
I’m more inclined to believe that Fabregas would leave if Wenger goes, but there’s no way Wenger is going to leave unless something catastrophic happens (Dein leaving is not a catastrophe). He has spent 2 years putting this team together and there’s no way he will leave before finding out if it bears fruit - would you?
June 5th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
I think Dein leaving is very big, especially for Arsene Wenger..
They weren’t just 2 guys who passed each other in the hall.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Please, Stag. They all said the similar things when Vieira left. Wenger is a rational professional, not some emotional twit. I think he can handle Dein leaving, but that’s just me.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
From what I’ve seen, speculation is reasonable that if there is a buyout, Dein may end up back with Arsenal anyway with the Kroenke group. Sport is no less political than government.Since there is an American connection here, look no further than the NFL’s Cleveland Browns ownership group. AL Lerner, as part of the club’s board, advised Art Modell to move the old Browns team to Baltimore, and then he turned around and bought the new Browns. Business is an international language, politics are its punctuation.
But, in response to the Henry talk, yeah, he could leave I suppose, but every season there is talk about him leaving (along with a string of other big names around the Premiership). The British sportswriters, with all their rumor-milling, make their American counterparts look quite conservative by comparison. It’s part of selling papers. Henry is under contract.
Bottom line, Henry is important, but even if he left, VanPersie and Adebayor are still in North London, as well as Walcott and perhaps Reyes, and don’t forget about Bendtner — who in my opinion is the x-factor. If Henry could be sold and a big name MF could be had (Lamps comes to mind) Arsenal are more than well equipped enough up front to lessen the blow. Blimey, might even be a blessing in disguise!
June 5th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Curt, Vieira was a player.
Dein and Wenger are apparently very close.
Thats a bit different.
Is he supposed to do Dein’s job now as well? He hasn’t been replaced.
Rye, you’ve lost it mate.
VanPersie and Ade!!!!
If they are our strikers, you can forget 4th place.
A blessing? Yes, if losing one of the best strikers in the world, your captain, and sending out a message to the world that we are sellers is a blessing. We would have zero chance of competing for any trophy next year without Henry.
Thats not the type of blessing we need.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Stag, I respectfully disagree with you — and not only do I think you’ve grossly underestimated Van Persie’s touch (and discounted the trio of young talent in Walcott, Bendtner and Adebayor), but you also seem to have overlooked the main provision of why I said it might be a blessing in disguise: if the money from Henry’s hypothetical transfer fee would be used to sign a big name midfielder (and Frank Lampard may very well be available).
Don’t get me wrong, Henry is my favorite Gunner and probably only second to Adams on my all-time list… but three items I’d like to address:
First, Henry may not even be wearing the armband for the club next season. Not every great player is necessarily a great leader. Henry hasn’t filled that role as Vieira did, and actually, I read (somewhere) that Wenger is/was strongly considering Gilberto to take over as skipper.
Second, football, particularly at the top flight — whether we care to realize it or not — is a business. Everyone, given the right price, is a seller. Selling Henry for a large fee wouldn’t damage the club’s reputation any more than selling Vieira to Juventus did. There are offers that are too good to turn down, and if Barca (or anyone else) were to make an offer that Wenger couldn’t overlook, but did anyway for the sake of keeping a big name player (who hasn’t brought any silverware to North London since his aforementioned countryman departed) then you risk sending the message that your boss is foolhardy.
Thirdly, the club played the majority of the season without Henry and finished 4th, with Van Persie (who incidentally scored 11 league goals to Henry’s 10) missing the final 14 Premiership matches.
No, you are right mate, Henry is not just another footballer. But you can call me crazy if you like. Look at the club’s roster and tell me that Arsenal is stacked at any other position like they are at striker. Of all the needs, a midfield commander is the most pressing issue. Last season’s injury woes notwithstanding, Arsenal’s front line remains the clubs greatest strength — even without #14.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
You are crazy. Henry is only the consistent goalscorer at the club. You don’t win anything without at least 1 consistent goalscorer. Van Persie looks good, but potential doesn’t equal 20+ goals per season. Adebayor is a supplementary striker, not a prolific striker. Bendtner?? Very funny. Maybe he will great, maybe he will be sh*t, how do you know? How does anyone?
If Henry left and was not replaced Arsenal would not make top 6 - the pressure on the other players to make up the goals would be unbearable, and none of them are proven goalscorers. Going into a season as unprepared as that would be a suicidal gamble and thankfully one that Wenger would not even consider, or anyone with a fully functioning brain.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Well Dan,
I don’t know. If I had a crystal ball, I wouldn’t be sitting here, I’d be sitting on my private island after picking the winning the lottery number. But Bendtner did score 11 goals in 42 appearances on loan to Birmingham City last season and is one of the main reasons why they’ve returned to the Premiere League this upcoming season. So I guess I’m hedging my bets based on his performance there. Rumors have already surfaced that Milan was interested in him, and Pompey is sniffing around.
It is a logical conclusion that Henry is the only consistent goal scorer for Arsenal (at least at striker anyway) — he is the only first team regular forward who has been there for more than two seasons.
Again, Henry missed over half the season for the Gunners and they still managed 4th place…
June 6th, 2007 at 3:58 am
I am not impressed by 11 goals in 42 appearances. That’s in the championship, the Premier League is a class apart. There are plenty of strikers who scored bucketloads in the championship and when they went up to Premiership level couldn’t score more than 3 or 4 in a season. Bendtner is young and could prove otherwise, but I wouldn’t pin any hopes on it - we used to pin out hopes on Lupoli, Aliadiere, etc. as the next great new thing - they did nothing. If all the strikers are fit Bendtner won’t even get a look in anyway.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Stag, I’m just saying that like DannyT said, that Dein leaving isn’t a catastrophe or something that Arsenal can’t recover from, that’s all.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:05 am
No, its not like Vieira left or anything.
But Dein’s position at the club WAS important.
Who is doing his job now? Wenger?
How much is on Wenger’s plate?
Wouldn’t you want Wenger working with people he both trusts and is comfortable with, like his friend Dein?
Still has not been replaced.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Dein was a very important part of the club and very close to Wenger, of course him leaving was unsettling for the manager and players alike, but I still wouldn’t class it as a catastrophe. If a player says he wants to leave a football club because a director is pushed out, I would say he is full of sh*t and using that as an excuse. What does the player have to do with the director on a daily basis? Very little, if anything I would imagine.
For Wenger it is different because the relationship was much much stronger and more important, however, in every walk of life people resign, get sacked etc. you just have to get on with it. Arsene Wenger is manager of Arsenal football club, one of the most cherished jobs in world football, he is building his 3rd team and has worked damn hard on it too. There’s no way Dein’s departure would be the sole catalyst for his own departure.
But I still feel next season is a massive season for the club and paricularly Wenger. Another poor season and yes I can see him giving up the ghost, especially as a number of players would likely leave, incl. Henry, Gallas an Fabregas. I think the whole lot could quite conceivably bugger off in one go and leave the club in complete chaos. And that’s where we probably would miss Dein, because he knows his stuff, the rest of the board are dinosaurs and more interested in finance than football.
These are dangerous times.
June 10th, 2007 at 6:01 am
yeah so i was stumbling across some footy sites when i came across this one in particular, having noticed group of people running their mouths about my team ACM well i would just like to get some things cleared up and i will try to keep it tasteful as i am trying to contain my anger. first off i will agree match fixing is unduly a terrible thing in the world of sports i will raise my hands on that one. Now with me being an English/Italian (or Britalian if you will) i support Italy and of course ACM as i was brought up to do so through my old man. After watching last years WC in Germany and watching my beloved rosso-nerri dominate europe for a 7th time it takes alot of guts to come back from all of this BS thats been thrown at the 2 teams by the media and the likes of people such as your selves. Again i will say it there is no need for match fixing but in order for the mighty Milan to come back from all of this crap and wipe the floor with the best teams of europe is trully astonishing, all of this match fixing BS aside, and i would like to see anyone disagree, milan are by far one of the major and best teams in european football i mean check out their honour list if anything we piss all “over the cant even manage to beat barca and become european champions ” Arsenal just think about that one before talking crap about my team.
just my 2 cents.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:50 am
F*ck Milan. And f*ck il Azzuri too.
Zizou doesn’t get the red card, Les Bleu wins their 2nd WC. Hell, should’ve been locked up English clubs don’t need to fix matches as the national economy isn’t structured around organized crimes.
That’s MY two pence.