Shocking revelations emerge, from a distance, about the match between Perugia and Juventus that decided the Italian championship in the 1999/2000 season. The former Umbrian striker Alexander Melli(in the cover photo), during an interview with the podcast “Non è più domenica”, revealed that there was even an attempted fix that was put into action but failed.
Melli told: “We were safe, we had nothing more to ask of the championship and we were coming from a week of controversy over Cannavaro’s goal against Parma. The Juventus players were escorted and looked like they had criminal records. Gaucci was linked to Lazio and the Banco di Roma, during the week he told us to do everything to win. He would also give us a prize if we won, while if we lost he would take us on a retreat in China”.
Melli continues and concludes about the episode: “In the locker room we tried to reach an agreement with the Juventus players for a draw, with them going to play the play-off. The Bianconeri, especially Davids, Zidane and Montero, did not accept the proposal. It was a secret pour parler between the most important players… We played an irregular match that ended the way it ended (victory of Perugia and Scudetto to Lazio, ed.) because of an episode”.