Here we go again. A Juventus opponent lamented an injustice. This time the self proclaimed victim is Torino, the Juventus' biggest rival. The referee Rizzoli did not see an alleged foul of Andrea Pirlo on Omar El Kaddouri, which would hame meant the concession of a penalty kick for the Granata underdogs. As a result, fans are complaining once again about the referee favors to the defending champions, a complaint that is recurrent season after season.

We do not know exactly where and when this stereotype was born. We do not know if there is a sinister design or it's just a coincidence. Certainly in the last four decades Juventus has carried the reputation of a team constantly helped by the referees, whose decisions or mistakes are seen as directed all in one way: to favor the most famous team of Italy.

Here we have isolated six milestones, moments that created this commonplace:

1972: Juventus and Torino are fighting for the title. The referee, mister Barbaresco, first validated a goal for Torino in the match against Sampdoria and then annulled it under pressure from Sampdoria players. This goal was scored by Aldo Agroppi and the ball was pushed out from goal (when already passed white line) by Marcello Lippi (future Juventus’s Trainer!). At the end of the season Juventus won the title with 1 point over Torino. Even today, Agroppi hasn't forgiven Lippi for that event.
VIDEO

1981: Three rounds before the end of the season. A big matchcan decide the title. At the time, it was Juventus-Roma. Juventus was leading the table with only 1 point over Roma. 15 minutes before the end of the game, Ramon Turone scored the 0-1 goal for Roma, but the referee annulled for a questionable off-side. The final result of 0-0 left Roma without any hope of winning the championship, and Juventus ended mantaining its advantage and winning the title.
VIDEO

After 32 years from the famous Juventus Roma 0-0, on 23 February 2013 in a radio program on Radiodue (Italian radio) the journalist Carlo Sassi (the first and most famous slow motion analyzer of the 70s and 80s) declared that the slow motion photograms were modified under some “pressures” received from Roma. The aim – Sassi said – wat to demonstrate that the goal was regular. “Ramon Turone was definitively in offside – Sassi explained - after the last Juventus player, Cesare Prandelli” (the present coach of Italian national team). All seems to be clear now. But other questions are now waiting for an answer:

1 - Why Sassi decided to declare that 32 years later?
2 - Which is this “particular mechanism” used at that time to falsify the images?
3- Which were the persons that decided to modify the replay?
And overall: who will received eventually advantages from that “fake replay”? Juventus , who won the scudetto? Roma to justify the loss with his supporters that were consumed by anger?
The mystery still remains, waiting for the next chapter, hopefully before others 32 years.

1982: With only one more round until the end of season. Juventus and Fiorentina had the same points in the table. While Juventus won in the field of Catanzaro, thanks to a penalty scored by Liam Brady, Fiorentina was blocked by Cagliari (0-0). In that match a valid goal by Ciccio Graziani (Fiorentina) was annulled for a questionable previous foul.
VIDEO

1998: Four matches until the end of the season. Juventus and Inter are head to head for the Scudetto. It is seen as the match that will decide the destiny of Serie A. The key event was the penalty reclaimed by Inter for an evident foul of Mark Iuliano against Ronaldo. The referee, mister Ceccarini ignores Inter players' protests. A few minutes later, the referee conceded a penalty to Juventus for Taribo West's foul on Alex Del Piero, who missed the penalty. Juventus won the match and the title.
VIDEO

2000: Juventus and Lazio are fighting for the title. On the penultimate round Juventus it's playing Parma. The valid goal of Parma, which would have tied the game to 1-1, scored by Fabio Cannavaro, was annulled by the referee, mister De Sanctis, for a non-existent foul in the penalty area in favor of Juventus, which won the match. Scudetto seemed to be safely in the hands of Juve. But in the last round, the sporting suicide of bianconeri against Perugia and heavy rain, will give to Lazio its second Scudetto.

 

2012: It was Milan - Juventus. Milan was launched towards the Scudetto. With the score at 1-0 for Milan, a clearly valid goal by Sulley Muntary was annulled. The entire ball overcame the goal line, but the referee didn't see it that way. Final score ended up being 1-1. From that moment Juventus started its comeback to win the 28th title.
VIDEO

This would be enough to make a divide between the fans who are “innocentisti” (Juventus supporters) and the front of opposite fans who are “colpevolisti” (almost all those of the other teams). Everything has remained almost always confined to bar chatter or TV broadcasts, until 2006. That year, the "Calciopoli scandal" cast a dark shadow over many matches of Juventus, that was condemned to the “shame” of Serie B.

But how can supporters of Juventus defend their team from the accusation of getting unfair help from referees? Below, for fun, we created a table of supporters' arguments in favor and against Juventus.

 

Pro Juventus: “At the end of the season losses and gains will be compensated as they will be for all teams”.
Against Juventus: “The errors are mainly in favor of Juventus, especially in key moments”.Pro Juventus: “We would have won anyway because we are the strongest team".
Against Juventus: “Give me what is due to me, first of all, and then we will see”.
Pro Juventus: "The psychological subjection of the referees is towards all the big teams against the small teams, not only Juventus.
Against Juventus: Juventus has always represented “the politic power of football” due to the influence of the Agnelli family (owners of Fiat).

Last edit: October 2, 4 pm
Thanks to our reviewer Lorenzo Franceschi Bicchierai