30 May 2012

Italian PM suggests football suspension

6:07 am on 30 May 2012

The Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has suggested football should be suspended for two to three years in the wake of the country's latest match-fixing scandal.

Prime Minister Monti made the comment out of frustration as a football fan, as police made a series of dawn raids as part of a major match-fixing investigation, less than a week before the Italian team leaves for the European championship.

Investigators even searched the room of one of the national team at their hotel near Florence, and police have made 19 arrests elsewhere round the country.

It's the third time in just over 30 years that Italian football has been dragged through the mud, but this time the affected teams and players are mostly outside the first division.