Football
Associated Press 18y

Italian soccer official remains in serious condition from fall on eve of scandal trial

TURIN, Italy -- On the eve of a match-fixing trial involving
Italy's most prestigious soccer clubs, Juventus team manager
Gianluca Pessotto was in serious condition Wednesday after falling
from a building at the club's headquarters.

The 35-year-old former Juventus player, who has not been
implicated in the scandal, fell from the roof of the three-story
building the day before. The team gave no details on what caused
his fall but said it was looking into all possibilities.

Italian media reported he was holding rosary beads at the time
and landed on a car.

He underwent surgery to stabilize a pelvis fracture, was given
transfusions to replace blood lost through hemorrhaging and placed
in a drug-induced coma, according to Turin's Molinette hospital.

"His condition remains very, very serious, even though it has
improved slightly since yesterday because the hemorrhaging has been
stopped," hospital spokesman Pierpaolo Berra said.

Stunned by the news, former teammates playing for Italy at the
World Cup in Germany traveled to be by Pessotto's bedside.
Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluca Zambrotta and assistant coach Ciro
Ferrara were returning Wednesday to Germany to prepare for Italy's
quarterfinals match with Ukraine on Friday.

Pessotto -- who also played 22 times for Italy -- retired last
season after 10 years with Juventus. He was appointed team manager
after the club's entire board resigned in May due to the
match-fixing scandal that has rocked Italian club soccer.

Juventus -- along with AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina and 26
soccer officials -- faces a sports tribunal starting Thursday set up
by the Italian soccer federation. The team could be stripped of the
Serie A titles it won in the past two seasons and faces possible
relegation to a lower division.

Luciano Moggi, the man at the center of Italy's match-fixing
scandal, won't attend the first day of hearings at Rome's Olympic
stadium, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The 26 accused -- including referees -- will face charges of
match-fixing and disloyalty.

"Everything is ready," said chief judge Cesare Ruperto. "The
panel knows what it has to do."

The federation has said it will issue verdicts before the July 9
World Cup final.

Moggi, Juventus' former general manager, and its ex-chief
executive Antonio Giraudo are accused of creating a system of
corruption that ranged from influencing refereeing assignments to
getting players booked.

Prosecutors in Naples, Rome, Parma and Turin are also conducting
separate criminal probes into fraud, illegal betting and false
bookkeeping. But it could be months before any indictments are
issued.

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