Just two weeks ago, Serie A footballers Francesco Flachi (Sampdoria) and Moris Carrozzieri (Atalanta) played their first official match after a two months ban for illegal betting. Now, another scandal is throwing a shadow on Italian football, whose credibility has been weakened last summer by the biggest match-fixing scandal in its history.

Public prosecutors in Udine (North-East) are investigating 21 players and former players for illegal betting, some of them quite famous such as World Champion Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese), Australian goalie Zeljko Kalac and Czech defender Marek Jankulovski (Milan), and Palermo striker David Di Michele. The earthquake epicentre seems to be a special newsstand in Udine, where its owner –Armando Zamparo- keeps a personal computer and a fax: some of top bets came from there and passed through British agency Eurobet UK (but the agency managers say those bets were fake).

As some players bet on their own team’s matches (on February 2005 Di Michele bet on Udinese-Inter as he used to play with the “bianconeri”) , we might also have another case of match fixing. And everybody wants to know who’s behind the nickname “Valle Maria” that won 40.000 Euros betting 100.000 on Reggina-Bologna (1-1, 8th May 2005).

So, while we’re waiting for the results of Public prosecutors’ investigation, probe has been handed over to FIGC (Italian Football Association) prosecutors. Some of these players run the risk of being banned for one year, though most of illegal bets took place before November 2005, when FIGC introduced more severe penalties with a minimum ban of 18 months.

This is not the first time that happens: in 1980 a match fixing caused relegation to AC Milan, and elder people remember policemen handcuffing some players outside the stadiums after Serie A matches. Then, some other small scandals happened, until last summer’s match fixing known as “Calciopoli”.

Though footballers bet “from time immemorial”, we don’t want football to become something similar to wrestling, where nothing is true. And we don’t want it like if it was a big Palio, the ancient horse racing that happens twice a year in Siena (Tuscany), where corruption is legal. It’s more and more difficult to believe that football is a game, we understand it’s a big business, and that’s why we hope there will be heavy punishment to all those people that –if proven guilty- makes football a “dirty business”.

Looking at “Renzo Barbera” Stadium in Palermo, and all the streets around at about 7 pm, it was clear that Palermo-Inter would have been the main event in the long history of the “pink and black” team. Unfortunately for Palermo, the match was the most beautiful of the season, but Inter deserved the victory even more than it was at the end (2-1).

After Juventus' relegation, there are four teams that can compete with the Milanese in a single match: AS Roma, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Palermo. Well, it has been 12 points for the “nerazzurri” against them and – except for the derby - all matches were away. Tonight, in front of about 40,000 in attendance, with no empty seats and viewers in more than 180 countries watching the game on TV, Palermo was one of the starts in a spectacular “Sunday Night” match. Mancini made the surprising choice of playing Adriano ahead of Crespo. Cruz and Dacourt for Inter, and Biava and Di Michele for Palermo were injured, and among the Sicilians' starting 11 was the young defender Paolo Hernan Dellafiore, an Italo-Argentinean that Palermo signed last Summer, coming from Inter in exchange for Grosso.

After six minutes, Ibrahimovic shot from 30 meters and Palermo’s goalie Fontana (four years at Inter) made a big mistake, letting the ball pass under his hip: 1-0 for Inter. Palermo is suffering, and Inter have incredible ball possession, and then Adriano, after a chip pass from Ibra, comes very close to scoring the second goal, but his strike is out. Minute 45, a cross from the left, a header by Bresciano, and Amauri scores with a volley that hits the goal-post and goes in: 1-1. Maybe Materazzi could have been closer to the Brazilian striker, but his mistake is just a spot on his perfect first half. In the beginning of second half, the two scorers have to leave for an injury, Crespo and Caracciolo replace them. Adriano shows that, when he plays for the team and not for himself, he’s the valuable player we used to know. The problem is that, after his long absence, he cannot run for 90 minutes, but the injury of Ibra complicated Mancini’s plan.

Materazzi hits the same goal-post of Amauri, but he’s not as lucky as him and Corini saves on the line. An Inter counter-attack gives a new advantage to the “nerazzurri” at minute 60’ with French captain Vieira. Palermo is KO, but in the last five minutes Inter suffers and Caracciolo hits another goal-post, but it’s not enough and Inter wins. The MVP is Dejan Stankovic: a wall, not a midfielder!
Now the ranking says: Inter 33, Roma 29, Palermo 27.

Sampdoria-Roma in the name of Totti. The AS Roma captain runs twice with a thumb in his mouth (his way to exult for a goal after his baby’s birth) to celebrate his double to Sampdoria. The “blucerchati” just try to resist, but at halftime Roma is already ahead 3-1, with its leader in a very good shape. Final score is 4-2 for the “red and yellow” team. Everybody in “Ferraris Stadium” clapped to Totti’s second goal (a fantastic volley from the left), even Sampdoria fans: after today’s match the discussion about his refusal to play for Italian National Team is still open. In fact, Totti dedicated his two goals to Platini and Matarrese (Italian League Chairman) that recently criticized his choice. We think that – though National Team should not be refused by anybody - Totti has the right to say no, but at the same time coach Donadoni has the right not to call him once he’s ready. Anyway, now AS Roma is second in the Serie A rankings, and nobody could bet a single Euro for the final win of a third team which is not Inter Milan or Roma.