Turin, Sept. 3 (LaPresse) – “The context in which history can be told has changed. As of today, all ordinary proceedings have concluded without any convictions. But there is a new development concerning sports justice,” namely “the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. It clarifies a fundamental principle: anyone who is subject to a sports sanction must have the right to turn to a judge capable of assessing its legality.” Antonio Giraudo, Juventus’ chief executive from 1994 to 2006, broke his silence in a lengthy interview with ‘La Stampa’, returning to the Calciopoli trial, which for the former executive has become time-barred. At the sporting level, however, Giraudo was banned for life. With this ruling, will a judge rewrite history? “I would be surprised otherwise. A judge will be able to overturn a ‘domestic’ disciplinary ruling deemed illegitimate. As my lawyer Dupont, who won at the Court of Justice, argued: the current system is contrary to the principles of European law,” added the former Bianconeri executive, who described Calciopoli as “an unprecedented media pillory, born of the envy of those who did not beat us on the field. But the real consequence was to bring Italian football to its knees. All things considered, it was, to reverse the formula, a mouse that gave birth to a mountain,” he continued: “The mouse is the picture that emerges at the end of the lengthy trials: no championship was rigged. As Sandulli, president of the Federal Court, said, ‘a world made up of bad habits, not classic offenses’.”
Calciopoli, Giraudo: “Unprecedented media pillory, EU ruling will rewrite history”
Turin, Sept. 3 (LaPresse) – “The context in which history can be told has changed. As of today, all ordinary proceedings have concluded without any convictions. But there is a new development concerning sports justice,” namely “the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. It clarifies a fundamental principle: anyone who is subject to a sports sanction must have the right to turn to a judge capable of assessing its legality.” Antonio Giraudo, Juventus’ chief executive from 1994 to 2006, broke his silence in a lengthy interview with ‘La Stampa’, returning to the Calciopoli trial, which for the former executive has become time-barred. At the sporting level, however, Giraudo was banned for life. With this ruling, will a judge rewrite history? “I would be surprised otherwise. A judge will be able to overturn a ‘domestic’ disciplinary ruling deemed illegitimate. As my lawyer Dupont, who won at the Court of Justice, argued: the current system is contrary to the principles of European law,” added the former Bianconeri executive, who described Calciopoli as “an unprecedented media pillory, born of the envy of those who did not beat us on the field. But the real consequence was to bring Italian football to its knees. All things considered, it was, to reverse the formula, a mouse that gave birth to a mountain,” he continued: “The mouse is the picture that emerges at the end of the lengthy trials: no championship was rigged. As Sandulli, president of the Federal Court, said, ‘a world made up of bad habits, not classic offenses’.”