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The return of match-fixing investigations as Italy prepares for a major tournament is reminiscent of the 2006 scandal

A feeling of deja vu has swept across Italian football following the dawn police raid on the national team's training camp on Monday, as the match-fixing investigations that have rocked Italy in recent years returned in spectacular fashion.

Six years on from Calciopoli, when Juventus were stripped of two Serie A titles and relegated to Serie B, their manager, Antonio Conte, has been placed under investigation by the authorities while 19 people, including 11 players, have been arrested. It is a fresh scandal that has evoked memories of a terrible episode in 2006 that shook the Italian game to its core.

"Conte's reaction is that of someone who's completely innocent and strongly determined to prove his total innocence," Conte's lawyer, Antonio De Rencis, said.

The investigation of Conte concerns his time with Siena, when the 42-year-old led the Bianconeri to promotion from the second tier last season. A year on he stood on the sidelines and watched a team in the same colours march undefeated to the title, but with 2006's scandal still raw, the latest investigation will damage the rebuilding process that has been taking place in Turin.

Juventus were not directly involved in the arrests on Monday, with the Italian media reporting that the games under suspicion involve Napoli, Sampdoria, Brescia, Bari, Lecce, Palermo, Genoa and Lazio. However, with the champions' reputation having taken a severe hit during recent years, this fresh investigation has brought the previous trauma back to the fore.

The Republic of Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, has voiced his astonishment at the latest probe. Trapattoni, who has twice managed Juve, told Gazzetta dello Sport: "It is a devastating story. If the magistrates are doing something, it is because there is some truth in this.

"I, who have travelled abroad for some time, must say that we give an ugly image of our football. As an Italian, the first feeling is that we are mocked abroad, we are always linked to illicit dealings and are considered mafia members. This only damages us because I can claim to have paid the price for an attitude that affects everyone."

La Repubblica have reported that investigators into the current outbreak are probing a meeting on 11 May between two Genoa players, two members of Genoa's Ultra fan group and a known Bosnian criminal, with suggestions that much of the match rigging was organised by an Eastern European gang that paid out significant sums to players.

In 2006, however, the scandal centred around the bribing of match officials, with the Juventus general managers Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo influencing the appointment of referees – selecting officials who would favour their side. Bans, heavy fines and jail sentences were the punishments handed out by the authorities, after telephone interceptions revealed the extent of the network of relations between managers, players and officials.

The former left-back Gianluca Pessotto tried to take his own life on the eve of the corruption hearings in 2006, having been appointed by the club to try and restore some order amid the chaos. That was no doubt the nadir for the Old Lady, but Juve have since ascended back to the summit and returned to their domineering force of old, securing another Scudetto in spectacular fashion.

A number of Juve players went on to lift the World Cup in Germany, viewed by many as a glorious redemption amid a whirlwind of turmoil. The following season Juventus returned to Serie A at the first time of asking, players such as Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon remaining loyal as Didier Deschamps led them to promotion.

The outpouring of emotion at Trieste's Stadio Nereo Rocco, when Juve clinched the title against Cagliari earlier this month, was therefore all the more significant given the travails of the last six years, but Conte's reputation and role throughout the campaign may now come into question. Read More

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