Signori under arrest over fixing

Signori in action in the 1-1 draw with Mexico at the USA 1994 World Cup in Washington DC [GALLO/GETTY]

Former Italy striker Giuseppe Signori has been placed under house arrest over suspected match-fixing of second division and non-league games, authorities said.

A number of well-known footballers who are still playing were also under investigation but have not been arrested, according to a police statement on Wednesday.

Italian football has been battling corruption for years with the fallout from a major 2006 match-fixing scandal in the top flight still rumbling on in the criminal and sporting courts.

In the new case, police in towns and cities across Italy including Rome, Turin, Naples, Bologna, Ancona, Cremona and Ferrara issued detention orders for 16 people.

‘Beppe’ Signori, a member of the Italy squad that reached the final of the 1994 World Cup and a former hero of Serie A side Lazio, was placed under house arrest as were seven others.

Another seven have been detained in custody.

One other person being sought by police was outside Italy.

Italian news agency ANSA said Signori had declined to comment on the case when reached by telephone.

Betting operators

Police said the six-month investigation had produced evidence of an organised system among former and current footballers, sports betting operators and others to manipulate the results of a number of matches.

They said bets worth tens of thousands of euros, and in some cases hundreds of thousands, had been placed on games.

The investigation was triggered by a second-tier Serie B match in Cremona last year which aroused suspicions that led to a wider probe.

In the criminal trial into the 2006 affair, prosecutors on Tuesday said former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi should face five years and eight months in jail for his involvement if he is found guilty.

Juve were demoted and stripped of their 2005 and 2006 titles in the scandal, which revolved around securing favourable referees rather than betting, but the Turin club now want Inter Milan’s 2006 championship, which they inherited, taken away.

They say new evidence implicates Inter in the scandal for the first time, but the 2010 treble winners deny any wrongdoing and the Italian football federation is investigating.