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CREMONA, Italy -- Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and 16 other people were arrested across Italy on Monday in an ongoing investigation into match-fixing and illegal betting on games. Louis Vasquez . The inquiry is focused on several matches in Serie B over the past two seasons -- with three of the matches including Atalanta. Three Serie A matches from last season are also under investigation: Brescia vs. Bari, Brescia vs. Lecce and Napoli vs. Sampdoria. "This is not the end but just a starting point," Cremona prosecutor Roberto Di Martino said. "Lets hope its a starting point in cleaning up the beautiful game that is football. One of the suspects has admitted that these operations have been going on for over 10 years. "At the top of the organization are men from Singapore who are those who move the money, but the shareholders are divided from the West, to the Far East, to South America and they manage with their men how to change the outcome of football matches." The arrests come five years after another major match-fixing scandal -- restricted to club and referee officials but not players -- resulted in Juventus getting relegated to Serie B for a season, plus point penalties for Lazio, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Reggina in Serie A. Others arrested Monday include former Inter Milan and Roma player Luigi Sartor, former Serie B player Alessandro Zamperini and active players Carlo Gervasoni of Piacenza and Filippo Carobbio of Spezia. Charges include criminal association and sporting fraud, while Doni -- who was placed under investigation in June -- has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to destroy evidence. "There were several elements that would have risked ruining the evidence and that lead to the need for custodial measures," Di Martino said. A phone call was reportedly intercepted between Doni and Ravenna goalkeeping coach Nicola Santoni -- who has also been arrested -- in which the pair discuss tampering with Santonis iPhone, which had been confiscated by police in June. Reports say Doni attempted to flee after police arrived at his house Monday morning. The 38-year-old Doni opened the door to the officers but then tried to escape via his garage, where he was caught. In the order of arrest for Doni, judge Guido Salvini wrote that "Doni, acting also on behalf of unnamed club directors, who were aiming for promotion to Serie A, interfered or tried to interfere in the results of multiple games of his team, with the purpose of illegitimately procuring for himself the proceeds of bets." Doni and the rest of the defendants have been forbidden from talking to their lawyers for the next five days. As recently as last month, Gubbio defender Simone Farina was approached and offered C200,000 ($260,000) to influence the outcome of an Italian Cup match between Cesena and Gubbio on Nov. 30. The player refused and reported the incident to the police. Farina started his career in Romas youth team with Zamperini. In June, 16 people were arrested as part of the inquiry, which is being led by prosecutors in Cremona, and Doni was then placed under investigation. In August, Doni was banned from football for 3 1/2 years by the Italian football federations disciplinary committee, and Atalanta -- which was promoted to Serie A for this season -- was given a six-point penalty. Doni has said he is innocent. UEFA has said it will wait and see what emerges from the investigation before deciding whether to take action. "UEFA is not able to make an official comment at the moment," spokesman Robert Faulkner told Italian news agency ANSA. "Of course match-fixing is one of UEFAs main concerns. But in this specific case it is purely an Italian investigation, which mainly concerns Serie B matches. "Even though UEFA pays a lot of attention to everything that concerns match-fixing and clandestine betting, this specific case does not directly involve it." Von Miller . Monaco is challenging fellow big-spender Paris Saint-Germain for the French title and needed to sign a striker to compensate for Colombia striker Radamel Falcaos long-term injury. Peyton Manning . Arsenal fell behind when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny spilled Kevin Nolans shot and Carlton Cole pounced to score a minute into the second half. West Ham goalkeeper Adrian was also culpable for Arsenals equalizer, with Walcott cutting in from the right and striking between his legs in the 68th. TOKYO -- Baseball and softball still have a chance of being included in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, IOC President Thomas Bach said Wednesday. "This will be under discussion," Bach said at a news conference. "We will have the first broad discussion in December in a meeting of the executive board of the IOC, then the executive board will present its first discussion paper to the IOC session in Sochi." Baseball and softball were dropped from the 2012 program after a 2005 vote by the IOC. The two sports merged into a single federation in a bid for inclusion in Tokyo, but lost out to wrestling in an IOC vote in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Squash also had sought a spot in the 2020 program. Tokyos winning bid for the 2020 Olympics has prompted calls in Japan for baseball and softball to be included when the Japanese capital hosts the games. While the Olympic Charter states that a sports inclusion in the program must be decided not later than the session electing the host city, Bach stressed the need to be flexible. "I am open for more flexibility in the Olympic program," said Bach, who was elected president in September to succeed Jacques Rogge. "But first we have to see what the rest of my colleagues in thee IOC think. Terrance Knighton. " Baseball and softball are very popular in Japan and there are many existing facilities in the Tokyo area that could be used if the sports were included. Bach was accompanied by IOC vice-president John Coates, who heads the co-ordination commission for the Tokyo Games. Japan is scaling down the cost of the planned 80,000-seat main stadium following an uproar from some prominent architects who think its too big and expensive. Coates said the IOC is open to changes as long as the cutbacks dont compromise the basic plan of the facility. "Its inevitable that costs will be reduced," Coates said. "We are always open to that as long as the basic facility isnt compromised." Japan has been in territorial disputes with both China and South Korea but Bach said he didnt see that as a problem that would affect the 2020 Games. "Sport is always about building bridges and never about building walls," Bach said. "The language of sport is the language of dialogue and mutual respect, and this is why I think sport can play a positive role." Over the past year, China has increased patrols near the Japanese-administered islands that it calls Diaoyu, and which Japan calls Senkaku. ' ' ' |
