FIGC in chaos as Rossi quits
Friday 15 September, 2006
FIGC Commissioner Guido Rossi has sensationally taken charge of Telecom, so the Italian Federation is left looking for a new President.
Rossi only took over from Franco Carraro in an emergency capacity in May to lead Italian football through the Calciopoli scandal.
However, this evening he was sensationally announced as the new President of troubled Telecom Italia, replacing Inter shareholder Marco Tronchetti Provera at the helm. It’s a return, as he had also been in charge of the company for a few months in 1997.
This means Rossi must leave the world of sport and the FIGC must now find a new chief, especially with the tricky arbitration for those punished in the match-fixing trial coming up.
Incredibly, the move took those within the Italian football world by surprise. “I didn’t know anything about it and only read about this on the news,” confessed CONI President Gianni Petrucci.
Rossi had been hailed by some quarters as the saviour of calcio, but bitterly criticised by others, such as Fiorentina patron Diego Della Valle.
“I’m very glad he’s taking this position, I’m sure he’ll be well suited to the job,” sarcastically noted Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini.
“Now we’ll get a new President for the FIGC, it can’t be that hard. We must immediately call a meeting and elect a new Federal chief. I’ve been asking for this for a long time.”
FIGC fury at Rossi conflict
The world of Italian football has reacted angrily to news that FIGC Commissioner Guido Rossi has taken charge of Telecom – a clear conflict of interest.
Appointed to lead the Federation through the Calciopoli scandal in May, Rossi stunned the sporting community when he was appointed President of troubled company Telecom Italia late last night.
Although he has not formally handed in his resignation from the FIGC – and CONI chief Gianni Petrucci confirmed he had only heard about the development through the news agencies – it would be practically impossible for him to continue in both positions.
“Rossi has no intention of leaving. I am convinced he’ll stay on,” FIGC Vice-President Vito Gamberale was quoted as saying in today’s newspapers.
But Rossi cannot lead Telecom through its controversial reconstruction plans and rewrite the Calcio rulebook, as it would be a clear conflict of interest – the very situation his appointment was meant to prevent.
Telecom Italia owns Alice (who show football on their mobile phone services), TIM (who sponsor Serie A and
and La7 (a television channel that has 10 clubs in its digital pay-per-view package).
“How many posts can he hold? At this point I think it’s opportune for Rossi to resign, at the very least from his position as Extraordinary Commissioner for the FIGC,” said Minister for Justice Clemente Mastella.
“I am awaiting clarification,” added Minister for Sport Giovanna Melandri. “One thing has to be clear – the reformation of football must not be interrupted in any way.”
Now the race is on to find another man to lead the Federation – it would be the third such figure in five months, as Franco Carraro resigned in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal on May 16.
The appointment could either be with someone outside of the football world, in which case the prime candidates are Gianni Letta and Gamberale.
If the clubs choose a return to having the sport dictated by a person who knows the environment well, then current CONI chief Petrucci (who already took over temporarily in 2000) or Raffaele Pagnozzi (who was Extraordinary Commissioner from 1996 to 1997) are the most likely options.
Here's a little research I've done on Telecom(company that had most of the phone taps for the whole "italian" scandal).
Presidente
Guido Rossi------------------------ex-Inter board and Italian Federation President
Ex-Presidente
Marco Tronchetti Provera (1)---------------shareholder and sponsor of Inter
Vice Presidente
Gilberto Benetton
Amministratori Delegati
Carlo Orazio Buora (1) --------------Director of Pirelli(Inter main sponsor)
Riccardo Ruggiero (2)
Consiglieri
Paolo Baratta (indipendente) (3)
John Robert Sotheby Boas (indipendente)
Diana Bracco (indipendente)
Francesco Denozza (indipendente) (4)
Domenico De Sole (indipendente) (1) (4)
Luigi Fausti (indipendente) (3)
Guido Ferrarini (indipendente) (4)
Jean Paul Fitoussi (indipendente)
Enzo Grilli (indipendente)
Vittorio Merloni (indipendente)
Gianni Mion
Massimo Moratti------------------------------>Inter owner
Marco Onado (indipendente) (1) (4)
Renato Pagliaro
Pasquale Pistorio (indipendente) (1) (3)
Carlo Alessandro Puri Negri
Luigi Roth (indipendente)
(1) Membro del Comitato Strategie
(2) Direttore Generale
(3) Membro del Comitato per la remunerazione
(4) Membro del Comitato per il controllo interno e per la corporate governance
Segretario del Consiglio di Amministrazione
Francesco Chiappetta
