Euro 2012: Italy Would Be Wise to Withdraw from Tournament Amidst Scandal

Another match-fixing scandal is rocking Italian soccer and the team should withdraw from Euro 2012 to keep from making the crisis worse. 

Italian coach Cesare Prandelli is not resigned to this possibility and said this, via ESPN, “If you told us that, for the good of football, we should not participate, it wouldn't be a problem for me. There are things that I believe are more important.”

There really is no way for the Azurri to win at Euro 2012 with all the controversy. Even if the team manages to rise above everything and pull together an impressive result, it will still be overshadowed by the growing problem.

It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the match-fixing crisis. 

The problem first came to light in 2006 when four of the country’s biggest clubs were reprimanded for blatant cheating. Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina received punishments of different levels of severity.

Fast forward to 2012 and Italian soccer has failed to clean itself up. As noted in the ESPN article, 19 people were arrested and questioned by the police in relation to the scandal, including Stefano Mauri, the Lazio skipper.

Defender Domenico Criscito was also questioned by authorities and because of his involvement in the controversy, he was dropped from the Italian squad, according to SI.com.

The most high profile player to be implicated in the scandal is goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Yahoo Sports reported that Buffon allegedly placed €1.5 million in bets with an agency in Parma.

There is no telling at this point how far this latest crisis reaches. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti even suggested suspending the sport entirely in order to weed out all the illegitimate dealings. He said, via Fox Sports:

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I'm not making a proposal, and even less is it a proposal that comes from the government, but it's a desire that sometimes I feel inside me: That it would really benefit the maturity of us Italian citizens if this game was completely suspended for two to three years.

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With the sport in such disarray in Italy, anything could be discovered in the coming months. Every option, no matter how drastic, must be kept on the table in order to help fix the problem.

This crisis will continue unless the authorities that govern Italian soccer take immediate, direct action. This should include withdrawing from the Euro 2012.

This will ensure that no further discoveries are made about anyone involved with the team while they are competing in the prestigious tournament.

It will also give the country time to figure out what the best course of action should be, as the next decisions will be vital to the legitimacy of the sport going forward.