Former FIGC President Franco Carraro appears in several wiretaps taken during the 2006 Calciopoli scandal urging referees ‘if in doubt, don’t favour Juventus‘ and to ‘help Lazio out.’
The trial transformed Serie A, as Juve were demoted to Serie B, while clubs including Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were all docked points.
Sporting fraud was never the accusation, but rather the teams were in contact with officials in a bid to get more ‘favoured’ referees assigned to matches.
The implication was always that the referees were pressured to give decisions in favour of Juventus, but in this evening’s Rai 3 investigative programme ‘Report,’ new previously unheard wiretaps were aired.
These include then-Federation President Carraro making statements that seem to contradict the general Calciopoli narrative.
“If in doubt, don’t favour Juventus,” Carraro told Bergamo ahead of a match between Inter and Juventus.
“Look, if it was (Pierluigi) Collina it wouldn’t be a problem, because if Collina makes a mistake then nobody says anything. Rodomonti is a referee who doesn’t have a great reputation… My God, if Rodomonti makes a mistake against Inter it’ll be bedlam.”
Refereeing designator Paolo Bergamo then called referee Pasquale Rodomonti with this advice.
“There is a 15-point difference between the two teams. If you are in doubt, trust me, think about the team that is further back.”
That was ahead of a 2-2 draw, in which the Bianconeri had been leading 2-0 and Francesco Toldo avoided a red card.
Carraro was also caught on the wiretap urging Bergamo to ‘help’ Lazio after a series of bad decisions had penalised them.
“On Sunday they play in Milan, it’s objectively a difficult game and we need to give them a helping hand.”
Carraro then said much the same while explaining it to someone else in a different call.
“Lazio were coming off a series of injustices, they played in Rome and were denied a clear penalty. I told Bergamo, please be careful…”
Another call finds Carraro telling Bergamo to make sure the referee for Chievo-Fiorentina “learned from last time” he sent off two Viola players.
That game ended 2-1 for Fiorentina, with Chievo protesting they weren’t awarded a penalty.