Match-Fixing Scandals Are Only Fought In Italy

Gennaro Gattuso


Italian soccer is nothing but a reflection of the country as a whole. Just like any other industry of the beautiful country, the world of sports is also characterized by the unfortunate presence of many illegal businesses that ruin the essence of the true values of sports. Moreover, as soccer is Italy’s most popular game, it is understandable that it would also be one of the most corrupted sectors of the whole country.

However, corruption is not a matter of Italian soccer and politics precisely. Instead, it is mostly a matter of human nature with many different representations over the course of history. These have been consistently written by episodes of unethical behaviors that are often fought and defeated by great individuals with strong values who reach immortality as they become heroes for future generations.

Furthermore, just as it is corrupted, Italian soccer has to also be considered as a world that systematically fights every single illegal or dirty action, regardless of the names involved. Consequently, this is the reason why the country is constantly characterized by numerous scandals year after year, more than in any other nation, where it is often preferable to cover scandals in order to preserve a good reputation with the rest of the globe.

The last scandal in Italian soccer exploded just two days ago as a continuation of the investigation on match-fixing that apparently has been present in every single category of the nation, including Serie A. Moreover, this time even the name of an authentic legend of the Azzurri was involved. That is, the 2006 World Cup winner Gennaro Gattuso.

The presence of the 35-year-old in the investigations was a strong hit for millions of fans and the public opinion as a whole as he was always traditionally recognized for the great amount of passion with which he played every single match of his career. For him, the shame of being guilty would be of such high magnitude that he even admitted he would commit suicide in public if they found evidence.

Despite the obvious hope for Gattuso’s innocence, this episode shows how Italy’s justice system is always ready to sentence any person who might violate the law, regardless of his status relevance. For this reason it can be said that at least in this country, for every bad action there is always a good one that will fight against the previous one, just like Isaac Newton taught to the world.

On the other hand, the same situation does not regularly happen elsewhere as it is better to hide scandals rather than fight against them. Like in Spain, where suspects of doping have been extremely numerous in the last years but organizations haven’t even shown the intention to conduct some investigations about it.

Of course, it is not taken for granted that professional athletes in Spain actually use illegal substances to perform better. However, whether they are guilty or not it’s something that has to be demonstrated in court rather than just hidden. Like these, the world of sports has witnessed many other examples of potential scandals that only remain in history as rumors given that usually nobody does anything to find the truth.

Nonetheless, this ironic situation doesn’t free Italians from guilt because the fact that scandals have already become a normal component of their soccer is only a matter of shame. However, at least they could have the pride of always having great individuals ready to punish whoever breaks the rules. In other words, for every Salvatore Riina there is always a greater Giovanni Falcone.


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