Tuesday, August 01, 2006

The strangest Scudetto

So Inter have their 14th league title, in the most bizarre manner imagineable. Having finished third in Serie A they saw all their nearest rivals penalised and won it more than a month after the season ended. Never before has it happened in Italian football - the last time a team had its title revoked (Torino back in the 1920s) it was simply not assigned. So, is there really any glory for Inter?

On the one hand, why shouldn't they have it? If they were the only clean ones in the top four then the title should be theirs. On the other hand, it can never be known how the league would have finished without all the alleged piloting of referees. And after such a long wait, would you really want to win the Scudetto that way?

I can see that as a fan you would want a title any way you could get it. Nonetheless, I still think there must be a bit of an odd flavour to the celebrations. I reckon most true Nerazzurri would give up ten titles won in this manner for one won on the pitch without sporting justice's intervention. They can protest all they like but it is a bit of a tarnished trophy. That will fade with time, of course, but still the Scudetto 2006 will remain one of the strangest in Italian football history.

1 comment:

martinobhoy said...

It's a strange one right enough.

As a supporter of a team who do occasionally win championships I don't think I'd want to win one this way. Although during Rangers' nine in a row years..............

My opinion is that the Scudetto should simply have been withheld but what's your thoughts on awarding it to Inter being some sort of administrative directive from UEFA?

Perhaps the rules behind the Champions League state that each country must have a nominated "champion" to be allowed to compete. That would explain why a Scudetto has been awarded for last season and not the season before.