Final Judgment: Spying on a Referee is not in the ‘Spirit of the Sport’

Before today, we were kind of 50-50 on the whole matter of spying on referees. Part of us thought it would be fun to bug their phones, hire private investigators to follow them and covertly take photos of them as they go about their every day lives. The other part of us, the ethical part, thought this was kind of silly and potentially an utter waste of time since everyone knows that referees lead lives that are even less interesting than some coaches.

Alas, our moral dilemma was solved today when FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepped up to the microphone and injected his thoughts into the possibility that Inter Milan hired private investigators to spy on disgraced Serie A referee Massimo De Santis back in 2002. Said the Seppster:

“You can’t tail a referee. You must not do it. It is against the spirit of sport,” he told Italian newspaper La Stampa. “If Moratti had had reasonable doubts (about De Santis) he should have spoken to the Italian Federation”.

The Moratti in this case refers to Inter president Massimo Moratti, who denies that his club ever was in the spying business and who actually has the moral high ground in this instance since De Santis is certifiably shady and barred from football for four years for his role in the match fixing affair.

The Italian Football Federation has yet to come out with a statement as to whether or not they will launch an investigation of the matter. Considering how many investigations of Italian football have taken place this past year we wouldn’t be surprised if there are any available investigators left in the country.

	Soccer Forums	Team/International Results

Category: Serie A

Tags: Inter Milan, Italy, Massimo De Santis, Massimo Moratti, Sepp Blatter, Seria A, Serie A, spying

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