Match-fixing: FIFA issues worldwide sanctions against 23 Italian players and officials

FIFA has confirmed the issue of worldwide sanctions against 23 players and officials in the judicial bodies of the Italian Federation and the Italian National Olympic Committee, on 08/03/2016. These sanctions concern "incidents of match manipulation and illegal betting that took place between 2014 and 2015 in different Italian football competitions," according to the international federation, on 08/03/2016.

The "Dirty Soccer" investigation conducted by the Procuratorate Catanzano into 27 suspicious matches involving 52 people and 29 clubs in the Serie B, Lega Pro and Lega Dilettanti (Serie D and Eccellenza) or the second to the fifth Italian divisions, was presented before the national federal court of the FIGC, on 11/01/2016, and then to the federal court of appeal on 26 and 27/02/2016.

The club Catania was thrown out of the Serie B for the 2015-16 season, and started with 12 penalty points in the Lega Pro (Italian third division) and fined €150,000 by the national federal court of the FIGC, regarding the case of matches being bought by the former club president Antonino…