 |
Sept 7 - Sept 14,2003 |
Soccer season marred by legal wrangling
Italian fans wait for disputes to be over while English players witness a Russian Revolution
By Mehrdad Masoudi
Originally Published: 2003-08-24
 |
|
Ricardo Izecson aka Kaką
|
The Italian government is to pass a decree aimed at ending the legal wrangles that have plagued soccer in recent weeks, Mario Pescante, under-secretary at the culture and sports ministry, announced on Monday.
A dispute between Sicilian club Catania and the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) has raged throughout the close season as the team turned to a regional court to adjudicate on its relegation.
"This decree, with a bit of luck, should reinforce the justice system for the sporting world and stop small regional courts deciding the outcome of sporting events," said Pescante.
Last weekend Italian premier and AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi gave his backing to the decree which will come into immediate effect.
The Sicilian court ruled that Catania should not be relegated from Italy's second division, Serie B. In a related decision last week a regional court in Reggio Calabria ordered that Napoli should go down to Serie C instead of Catania.
The Italian Soccer Federation has stood by the final league table, which resulted in Catania's relegation to Serie C, but the powers of sports federations and regional courts have been unclear.
Catania were initially awarded a victory from a drawn game as an opposition Siena player was ruled to have played while suspended, but soccer authorities later annulled the decision.
The extra two points would have saved Catania from relegation to Serie C and the Sicilian regional court has ruled the club should be reinstated to the second division.
Pescante said that under the new decree all clubs and athletes would have to exhaust the full appeals process established by their respective federations.
Any appeals that followed final decisions by federations would have to go to the regional court in Rome and then the Supreme Court. The decree would end the increasingly popular practice of clubs turning to their regional courts for decisions.
As well as the Catania case, basketball club Virtus Bologna recently had their expulsion from the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) overturned by their regional court. The new Serie A season starts on August 30.
Page 1/...Page 2
|
| Home / Back to Top |
|
|
 |
|
|
</ td>
