It would be monumentally sad if it wasn’t so expected. The Italian justice system, or what passes for it, has eased the penalties in the match fixing scandal to a light tap on the wrist. This is just the sort of thing that makes Italy a bit of a joke in the rest of the civilized world.

The original penalties were hardly the sharp retribution the offense deserved, but it was more than I expected from the notoriously dodgy Italian judges. On appeal, the verdicts are much more lenient. Juve still has to go down to Serie B, but without the harsh point reduction that would have probably kept them there for another year. Lazio and Fiorentina get to stay up, AC get to play in the cups.

On top of it all, the clubs have vowed to keep appealing to get even this wrist tap reduced. There is no reason for any of the teams to not carry-on just as they had been. No incentive for Juve not to buy the Serie B championship and the next 50 Serie A’s after that. Might someone not begin to get suspicious? Who cares. Obviously, not Italy.

I won’t be watching Italian football. There’s no point for me to do so. There are legitimate leagues around the world more deserving of the attention. Ipswich is about to play Lazio in a friendly. They should withdraw the invitation.

You could easily imagine the outrage and resulting fall-out had this match fixing occurred in England. Even their generally laughable FA would have hammered the teams involved. There wouldn’t even be a doubt. The US, being the US, would probably blast the individuals involved rather than the teams, but you’d think even here, the Yankees would be severely spanked. That’s what keeps them from even thinking of pulling a scam like this.

Enjoy the World Cup. Italy. You deserved it. You also deserve the scorn and ridicule the rest of the football world should now heap upon you. Your club football has lost whatever credibilty it had. Why should any decent player in the world want to ply their trade in that cesspool? And, above all, why should any fan care? Ciao, Italia.