On 12 May 2006, during the height of the "Calciopoli" scandal, Buffon was accused of illegally betting on Serie A matches, which initially put his place in Italy's 2006 World Cup squad at risk. Buffon was formally interrogated and admitted placing bets on sporting matches until players were forbidden from doing so in October 2005, but denied ever placing wagers on Italian football matches. He was cleared of all charges in December 2006. Following Italy's 2006 World Cup victory celebrations at Circus Maximus in Rome in July, he attracted further controversy when he distractedly displayed a banner he had received from the crowd, with the writing "Fieri di essere italiani" ("Proud to be Italian"), as well as a Celtic cross, a symbol which has been adopted by neo–Nazis in recent years; Buffon later stated that he had not seen the symbol.