According to this article from La Gazetta dello Sport, Antonio Conte faces a ten month ban to serve thanks to Calciopoli XIV. If Juve face having their manager gone for ten months, might they just part ways with Conte?
Here is the article we referenced in today's show. Let us know what you think will be happening at Juve as the Serie A Season begins soon. Email show@worldfootballdaily.com with your thoughts.
Gazzetta dello Sport can reveal the verdicts to be given in the 'Calcioscommesse' trial relating to Antonio Conte, Leonardo Bonucci, Simone Pepe, Salvatore Masiello and Nicola Belmonte.
masiello not credibile — Thursday 9 August 2012 will be a big day for Juventus: they will lose their coach Conte for ten months (pending appeal), but will have Bonucci and Pepe available for Saturday's Super Cup. It appears that the attacks made by Bonucci and Pepe's lawyers and the weak case for the prosecution made by FIGC prosecutor Stefano Palazzi (interrupting the defences to propose plea-bargains) have convinced the Disciplinary Commission that there is insufficient evidence regarding the Udinese v Bari game to accept the prosecutor's sentence requests. Which basically means that Leonardo Bonucci, Simone Pepe, Salvatore Masiello and Nicola Belmonte will be acquitted. And yet they were potentially very heavy sentences: four years for Belmonte, three and a half for Bonucci and Salvatore Masiello, one year for Pepe, a €50,000 fine for Udinese.
witnesses — It all hangs on how credible the Disciplinary Commission believes the various witnesses are. The statements given by Filippo Carobbio and Carlo Gervasoni are considered to be very reliable (as the Disciplinary Commission and the FIGC's court of sports justice have already stated), while Andrea Masiello's statement is still “being examined”. His words weren't given much credit by the ordinary judiciary either, and he was arrested after giving statements in Cremona and Bari. The contradictions in his two hearings have been pointed out by Bonucci and Pepe's lawyers (and by Luciano Malagnini for Salvatore Masiello).
Conte's position — This is why the position of Juventus coach Antonio Conte – regarding his time at the helm of Siena – is different. In this case Carobbio's statements proved to be decisive. The FIGC prosecutor didn't feel the line adopted by the Bianconeri coach was credible, even though he eventually accepted the plea bargain of three months and a €200,000 fine put forward by Conte's defence. However, the Disciplinary Commission felt the ban was "incongruous". And this is where a series of errors began. Juventus only had to raise the bar a little immediately (to four months), perhaps a little higher (five months) after all the controversy. Instead it has turned into a conflict. Palazzi has donned his grand inquisitor vest once more and asked for 15 months; the Disciplinary Commission has – it appears – decided to adjust that to ten months. Starting from the request made by Palazzi himself (six months and it is unclear why that became one year), and aggravated by the continuation and Conte's role as coach. This is why Angelo Alessio may only get nine months.
APPEALS — Official confirmation will arrive on the morning of Thursday 9 August. The defences will then have five days (two for briefs, two for rejoinders, one for counter-deductions) to get ready. The FIGC court of sports justice (with Gerardo Mastrandrea as president) will examine the documentation and it will be back to court on Monday 20 August for the appeals. The dispositions should be made around the 23rd. The grounds will come later (15-20 days), although all parties will be able to appeal to CONI's TNAS (court of arbitration).
bianconeri in beijing — And then there's the Super Cup. Everything that is happening around, and especially within, Juventus is having somewhat of a damaging effect; in three days in Beijing the Bianconeri will play for their first trophy of the season, but the growing drumbeats regarding Conte's uncertain future, even including a possible resignation, are not helping. Does this risk exist? To decide will be president Agnelli who re-re-confirmed the coach who led Juventus to the title. His faith was expressed in no uncertain terms with a statement issued in the aftermath of the "blow" handed down by the Disciplinary Commission (plea bargaining refused). Yet it was not enough to calm the "market storm" on Conte. That's why, at the end of yet another day full of contradictions and after the club's new official denial of the abandonment of Conte's defence team, the directors have asked themselves, "And if this destabilisation is coming from within?" It would be like something of loose cannon aiming to undermine the credibility of the coach. Enough to trigger the alarm in the Juve house. Let's try to understand why.
friction — The betting story erupted in the Bianconeri house last spring. Conte vehemently claimed his innocence and the club supported him. Yet some material found its way to newspapers: "should a long ban be handed down then the coach will be gone." And the names of Prandelli and Capello were bandied about. The club took a low profile and the coach decided to add lawyer Antonio De Rensis the legal team. Everything was fine until the possibility arose of charges being filed; they spoke of wrongdoings and rumours of passing the buck quickly returned.
final battle — The absence of charges calmed the waters, but not the "rat", who arrived right on cue on the plea-bargaining, despite Conte being against it. Then, when the coach was satisfied, another leak came out to the newspapers. Too bad the reassurances about the successful outcome of the compromise turned out to be false. At that point the friction exploded into a very tense face-to-face at the Juve headquarters (with Agnelli present). Conte refused any further mediation and the club guaranteed him his job in any case. Back to the trial, but only De Rensis and Chiappero were present in the courtroom. The club's other attorney (Briamonte, also a member of the board) remained in Turin. The crack became an abyss when Conte decided to hire Bongiorno. More dirt came out, this time discussing the exit of some of Juve's lawyers from the coach's defence team. It seemed a distancing, almost the first step towards Conte's dismissal. Juve were forced into their umpteenth denial on their official website. But in addition to that, statements followed from Briamonte (reappearing for the occasion) to 'Sky Sport Italia': "No, no one is leaving. We'll weigh things after the verdict." All of this after Stellini's resignation (an aide to Count) that someone had revealed as a starter before the main course of coach's resignation, now overwhelmed by the new Bari investigation (although the prosecutors denied the existence of documents incriminating the coach). The "rat" raised his game: "Conte is leaving. He'll go after Beijing. The sentence will be the coup de grace." These are competent "sources", say the journalists to the club that is demanding an explanation. Sources within Juve, perhaps. Things stand to get even hotter in Turin in the coming days. And through no fault of Caligula.
Maurizio Galdi, Francesco Ceniti
http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/08-08-2012/calcioscommesse-10-months-for-conte-pepe-and-bonucci-get-off-912184109065.shtml 
World Football Daily
