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When the Italian national soccer team takes the field next week tocompete in the 2012 European Championship, it will be one manshort. Just after sunrise on May 28, Italian police swept into thesquad's training camp to question Domenico Criscito, a 25-year-olddefender who was a starter for Italy at the 2010 World Cup and waswidely expected to start again in the upcoming tournament in Polandand Ukraine. The raid, during which police searched Criscito's room, was part ofa wide-ranging match-fixing scandal that has thus far implicateddozens of current players, former players, and coaches in Italy. Onthe same day investigators raided the training camp, police alsoarrested Stefano Mauri, the captain of Rome's Lazio club, and tookanother 13 people into custody. Others were placed under housearrest, notified they were under investigation, or had their housesor offices raided. Police searched the home of Antonio Conte, thestar manager who led Juventus to Italy's Serie A championship lastmonth. Another Euro 2012 player, Juventus defender LeonardoBonucci, is also said to be under investigation, according toItalian news reports. (LIST: The Top 10 European Championship Football Games) "This is the worst scandal in Italian football history, and that'ssaying something," says John Foot, a professor of modern Italianhistory at University College London and the author of Calcio: A History of Italian Football , which includes a chapter on the sport's scandals in Italy. "Everytime I do a new edition (of the book), it gets bigger and biggerand bigger," he adds. The explosion of allegations has shaken the world of Italianfootball, which has watched in horror as the trail of corruptionhas climbed the ranks of the sport, from the arrests of a series ofminor league and retired players exactly a year ago, on June 1,2011, to Monday's blockbuster raids. "I wonder if it wouldn'tbenefit all those who follow this sport if for two or three yearsthere was a total suspension of this game," Italy's Prime Minister,Mario Monti, said the day after the latest arrests, adding that hewas speaking on a personal level, not recommending governmentpolicy. "It's particularly sad when a world, such as sport, thatshould express high values is guilty of the most reprehensible onessuch as treachery, illegality and deceit." (VIDEO: Interview with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti) The web of corruption, in which players and coaches are accused oftaking money to arrange the outcomes of matches, is so vast inscope, it's alleged to involve middlemen in Eastern Europe all theway to moneymen in Singapore. In Italy, the scandal has also cast alight on the country's everyday sporting culture, in which teamssometimes exchange favors, for instance offering to draw a gamewhen it might benefit both teams. "Better two wounded than onedead," Gianluigi Buffon, the national team's captain, said during atelevision interview a few days before the arrests. The matchfixers "didn't invent anything," says Marco Mensurati, author of Calciopoli: the Collapse and Restoration of a Corrupt System . "They found a terrain that was already fertile." Of course, Italy is not alone in Europe — or the rest of theworld for that matter. But Italy's scandal remains by far thelargest on the continent. "This is a society in general that has alot of problem with political and economic corruption and so it'snot so surprising that it happens in the biggest sport, which isalso an enormous business," says Foot. "The fact that now you canbet on anything, that it's a globalized economy, that the moneyinvolved is enormous, that's going to have an influence on a lotsports." In Italy, being placed under investigation — or even beingarrested — doesn't necessarily result in charges, and it willlikely be years before any resulting trials plays out; the criminalprocess triggered by a 2006 scandal, in which teams rigged theselection of referees, is still ongoing. But the allegations willnonetheless have more immediate implications, as the sport'snational governing body will be forced to start dishing outsanctions as early as next week. (MORE: TIME's Preview of Euro 2012) So far, the only casualty remains Criscito, who was passed over forthe Euro 2012 tournament because of the raids. But many of theinvolved players and teams risk suspensions, fines and demotions.On Friday, Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli told the Italian sportschannel RaiSport that he would understand if the team had to dropout of the European Championship. "If you told us that for the goodof football we should not participate, it wouldn't be a problem forme," he said. "There are things that I believe are more important." See TIME's Pictures of the Week. See TIME's Keeping Score blog on sports. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Red Cyan Filter Manufacturer , DLP Active Shutter 3D Glasses, and more. For more , please visit DLP Active Shutter 3D Glasses today!
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