Italian Olympic chief blasts "arrogant" Juventus

Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) president Gianni Petrucci on Wednesday hit out at Turin giants Juventus for seeking to have their match-fixing punishment reversed. Juve were stripped of two league titles and relegated to Serie B after having been found guilty in the 2006 calciopoli scandal of trying to influence referees. But ever since the Old Lady of Turin has tried to exhaust every avenue possible to see their punishments overturned. They have filed appeals with Coni's National Court of Arbitration for Sport (TNAS) and European football governing body UEFA, while their latest attempt was to bring a case in a local Italian court in the Latium region claiming 444-million euros ($599m) in damages from the Italian Football Federation (Figc). Now that TNAS has declared itself unable to judge on Juve's claim, Petrucci has had enough. "I don't like what's happening in top-level football at the moment, it's an illness of legal doping," he said at a press conference in Rome. "Top-level football will lose the respect of public opinion if it continues like this. I'm talking about a part of top-level football (Juve), a part that believes it's cunning. "I'm not having a go at lawyers but right now they're trying to make everything possible. "We're in the hands of too many lawyers. I'm not saying that we don't have the right to appeal to the courts, but we're going beyond every level of sporting justice. "There's a lack of respect for the rules and for ethics. The arrogant and domineering must not prevail. "I'm talking about a part of top-level Italian football because we're witnessing something that's never been seen before. "Unfortunately they don't accept the results on the pitch any more but as long as I have a voice to defend our rules, I'll do so. "The (football club) presidents knew that when they entered the world of sport: theirs is the money, the rules are ours!" Asked about Juve's latest appeal in the courts, Petrucci pleaded with the Italian giants to come to their senses. "Where's the sense in continuing? Taking a step backwards would mean taking two forwards," he said. "After this latest decision, what's the point in continuing? Those with more intelligence put it at the service of others. I'm making an appeal but maybe those serve no purpose any more." Juve have never accepted the fact that they were stripped of two titles and still include the 2005 and 2006 scudetto crowns in their list of honours -- although this is not recognised by the football authorities. What particularly rankles is that although the 2005 title remains unassigned, the 2006 crown was awarded to runners-up Inter Milan. "I don't know if it was right to award that title to Inter, it's not up to Coni to say so," added Petrucci. "However, the rules were respected and for Coni that's the end of the matter. Those who want to re-open (the case) create problems for the serenity of Italian football. Nowadays you live on your credibility and your curriculum. "It's not true that whoever shouts the loudest is right. That's enough, we've put our faith in a group of wise people to make a stand against the arrogance of a part of football."