The newly appointed head of the Italian football federation (FIGC) says the state of the national game is worse than he expected.
However, commissioner Guido Rossi was confident that the scandal would not affect the national team at the World Cup, which starts next week in Germany.
“I didn’t expect to find such a serious situation,” Rossi told the Italian news agency ANSA. “I thought it was much more circumscribed.”
Rossi, a former senator, was appointed May 16 to clean up Italian football after a series of scandals rocked the sport.
A number of scandals including allegations of match-fixing, illegal betting and manipulation of referee assignments, has engulfed the game in Italy in recent weeks.
“I think it’s possible to reconcile what’s happening with the sporting aspect,” said Rossi, who met with Italy coach Marcello Lippi last month to express his support of the team. “We work on different levels.”
