Profile: Dodgy Moggi - the man who killed the “Old Lady”
So who you ask is Luciano Moggi? How did he managed to bring the “Old Lady“, the team that had won 29 titles (now 27) to her knees? Here is a brief biography of the man previously known as “Lucky Luciano“.
Born in Siena in 1937, Moggi’s career started as a train station attendant in Rome. Many of the most powerful men in Italian football passed through the station where he worked. He befriended many of them and soon earned his big break when Italo Allodi offered him a job working with the junior sections of Juventus in the early 70s. This was Moggi’s big chance to impress the “big cheeses” at Juve. However, he soon moved to a new role at Roma in 1979 and then on to Lazio. His first major “successes” came at Torino in the early 1980s where he helped re-establish the team among Calcio’s elite.
In 1985, Verona took the Italian championship. While the fans credit the coach and players such as Elkjaer with the success, Serie A club directors are not so convinced. Rumours of match-fixing by Verona’s president, a close friend of Moggi emerge. In a bid to distance himself from these, Moggi moves south to join Napoli. Here he is in his element and is able to “work” quietly with the support of the mafia. Napoli begin to enjoy “fairer” treatment from referees and win the championship.
Moggi leaves Napoli in 1991. Through his connections, he helps Silvio Berlusconi acquire Gianluigi Lentini from Torino, the most expensive transfer in football history at the time. Moggi himself then returns to Torino and revives their fortunes, helping them secure European football again. There is talk of the “granata” enjoying favourable refereeing decisions and Torino’s profits sore unexpectedly. The vultures begin to circle. The press are more suspicious than ever and investigations begin into the transfer of Lentini.
Moggi jumps ship and moves to Roma. His time there is short. Once again he displays excellent timing, moving to back to Juve just as a scandal is uncovered surrounding Roma’s transfer dealings (his main responsibility). Moggi brings Lippi to Juventus and Juve win their first title in 9 years in 1995 and follow it up by winning the next two scudetti. Moggi’s popularity is at its peak.
However, once again a club with Moggi at the helm seems to enjoy extremely “favourable” refereeing but nothing can be proved. It’s at this time that the Juventus doping scandal surfaces. After a 5 year battle in the courts, the directors and manager are cleared of any involvement in or knowledge of the scandal. The blame is placed squarely on the shoulders of Juve’s medical team.Moggi’s uncanny ability to be close to controversy but to escape unscathed continues.
His downfall eventually comes due to his love of mobile phones. The prosecutor in the doping scandal had Moggi’s mobile tapped and in the spring of 2006, transcripts of conversations between Moggi, journalists and members of the refereeing community emerge. Moggi resigns. His arrogance knows no bounds. “The system [controlling the appoinment of referees] existed before my time. The only thing I wanted to ensure was that Juventus would not be unfairly treated. If you are looking for guilt, look at Milan” he says. This time he cannot escape. He issues one parting shot: “I am tired of football. Those who accuse me have destroyed my soul. Football will not be better without me and that will be proved shortly. When that happens I will no longer be around to be used as a scapegoat. Remember that…“.
