Italian FA clear Inter in spying case but Vieri unhappy
Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:55PM BST
ROME, June 22 (Reuters) - Inter Milan have been cleared of
allegations they spied on players and a referee and the file on the
case has been closed, the disciplinary committee of the Italian
Football Federation (FIGC) announced on Friday.
Former Inter strikers Christian Vieri and Ronaldo were among those
allegedly spied on by the club, as well as former Italian referee
Massimo De Santis, who was found guilty of attempting to influence
the results of games in last year's Serie A match-fixing scandal.
The FIGC's decision to close the case did not spell the end of the
controversy, however.
Vieri is currently pursuing a separate civil action against his
former club and Telecom Italia for a total of 21 million euros in
damages.
"I'm very surprised they decided to close the case. It doesn't seem
to me that they examined the evidence very closely," Vieri's lawyer
Danilo Buongiorno told Reuters.
A statement on the FIGC's Web site (
www.figc.it) on Friday said
however: "No facts of relevance to the disciplinary committee had
emerged from the probe."
The investigation began last September in response to claims that
during 2002 Inter employed a firm of private investigators with links
to telecommunications giant Telecom Italia to monitor the movements
and intercept the phone calls of some of its star players.
If found guilty by the FIGC, Inter could have faced a fine or a
points penalty for breaching the sports rules governing fair conduct.