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ROME -- Italian professional soccer should be halted for two orthree years to get over the match-fixing scandal which hasspattered its image, Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Tuesday. The soccer federation and several clubs rejected the idea, which isMonti's personal opinion and not binding. The widening scandal has seen a number of top players arrested, thecoach of this season's title-winning club placed underinvestigation and the national team training headquarters raided bypolice. It's particularly sad when a world which should be an expressionof the highest values sport, youth, competition, fairness turns out to be a mass of foul play, falsehood and demagoguery, Monti said at a news conference with visiting Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk. This isn't a government proposal, but I wonder if it wouldn't bea good idea to suspend the game for two or three years. The idea is unlikely to gain much traction in Italy, a countrywhich is both obsessed by soccer and inured to an apparentlyendless series of financial, political and sexual scandals inrecent years. I understand and share the bitterness of Prime Minister Monti, Italian soccer federation president Giancarlo Abete said in astatement. But to stop the championship would mean humiliating all offootball, penalizing the majority who work honestly and it wouldalso mean the loss of thousands of jobs. It is not the solution. Monti's suggestion underscores the growing disgust over an affairwhich has shone a harsh light on the pervasive corruption at manylevels of Italian society. It's so easy for the great majority of citizens to see the originof all Italy's problems in politics, Monti said. It's a bigmistake. In the latest phase of an operation which began last year, policeplaced Antonio Conte, coach of championship-winning Juventus, underinvestigation on Monday over allegations relating to a 2011 matchbetween previous club Siena and Novara. They also arrested Stefano Mauri, captain of Lazio one of thetwo big clubs in Rome, and raided the Italian national team'straining base at Coverciano after placing Italy defender DomenicoCriscito under investigation. Criscito was then dropped from the squad for the upcoming EuropeanChampionship. 'Talking rubbish' The scandal echoes earlier match-fixing affairs in 1980 and 2006,further tarnishing the image of Italian soccer which has long lostthe pre-eminent position in the European game it enjoyed during the1990s. With less than two weeks before the start of Euro 2012 in Polandand Ukraine, Italian fans may draw comfort from the fact thatprevious scandals preceded Italy's victories in the 1982 and 2006World Cups. Prosecutors believe an international gambling ring paid players tothrow matches deliberately. Dozens of current and former players inteams ranging from the Serie A top division down to the lowerleagues may have been involved. However, reaction from clubs has been largely defensive and thehead of one Serie A club said Monti was talking rubbish. Before saying we need to stop playing football he should thinkabout his own problems and everything he is destroying and closingdown with his laws, said Maurizio Zamparini, president ofPalermo. Monti is showing his ignorance because professional footballclubs pay 800 million euros (US$1 billion) to the state everyyear. The scandal comes at a time when Italian clubs, like many others inEurope, are struggling to make ends meet while paying astronomicalsalaries to their top players. According to a report in business daily Il Sole 24 Ore on Tuesday,losses at Italian clubs totaled 428 million euros during the2010/11 season. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as E-light RF IPL Manufacturer , China Ultrasound Cavitation Slimming Machine for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Beauty Equipments.
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