World champ Italy lose to Croatia

London: After the harsh disciplinary action taken for Italian Football teams for their part the country’s biggest match-fixing scandal, the spotlight has now turned to Turkish football, which reportedly suffers from the same problem. Turkish State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin asked the Turkish Football Federation to draft a comprehensive report regarding the matter and said incidents of match-fixing will never be excused. The Turkish Football Federation alone is not sufficient to end match-fixing, assessed Mehmet Ali Sahin. “We need the support of laws regarding this matter. For instance, we should have the right to tap telephone lines." Sahin said Turkey should learn from the disciplinary measures handed down to Italian teams like Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and Milan, which were found guilty of being involved in match-fixing. Mr. Sahin added, “We saw that even a world-cup winning country can fall victim to foul play in football." The Italian National Football Federation’s Court of Arbitration handed down its verdict based on evidence gathered when the match-fixing scandal was uncovered during an investigation conducted by the public prosecutor. The Supreme Court judge and other members of the judiciary came to a joint decision, and this means that when football teams are charged, football federation committees do not have the capacity to resolve the matter and the judiciary must intervene. Accepting the occurrence of similar practices in Turkey, said Sahin. “We formed an arbitration board within the Turkish Football Federation; however, prosecutors have not been able to prove anything so far. We need new arrangements to simplify the gathering of evidence, for example; laws enabling wiretapping could be implemented. Italy has managed to bring the matter to a successful conclusion using just such a method." “Legal precautions should be taken regarding the matter. Gathering evidence should be made easier, as is the case in the control of organized crime in Turkey. Telephone conversations can produce indisputable proof and make investigations easier. We should learn from the example of Italy before developing any new arrangements for Turkey."