Novara are stunned that they were referred to the Disciplinary Commission over the betting scandal and Coach Attilio Tesser prays none of his players are found guilty.
Novara are stunned that they were referred to the Disciplinary Commission over the betting scandal and Coach Attilio Tesser prays none of his players are found guilty.
The already-relegated club was one of three top flight clubs named in an investigation into betting and alleged match-fixing in Serie B last year.
Novara released a statement this evening confirming “faith in our players,” but noted they have taken steps to stamp out the influence of betting syndicates by introducing an anti-fraud system that scans markets for unusual patterns and a clause in contracts preventing players from making deals on games.
“I cannot believe it and I don’t want to believe it,” said Coach Tesser. “If I really did discover one of my lads had done the things that we read about in the newspapers, it’d be the biggest sporting disappointment of my life.”
However, other clubs are also involved – namely Atalanta” data-scaytid=”36″>Atalanta and Siena – so Novara could even be allowed back into the top flight if these sides are heavily penalised.
“It will be a difficult summer for everyone, perhaps us more than most, because we won’t know until the final moment if we’re still in Serie A or relegated to Serie B,” said director of sport Cristiano Giaretta.
“It’s also bound to be a strange transfer market, because if the number of players implicated really do get penalised, then many clubs will have to rebuild their squads.”
An actual decision on the Serie A sides involved is not expected until after Euro 2012.