Moggi: Italian football chiefs broke the national team by breaking Juventus

Former Juventus director general Luciano Moggi insists Italian football has never recovered from the Calciopoli scandal.

Moggi says by relegating Juventus in 2006 and stripping them of their two titles at the time, Italian football damaged itself beyond repair.

Reflecting on Italy's World Cup playoff failure this week, Moggi told: "Italy eliminated by Bosnia? Something happened in 2006: the toy broke because they broke Juventus, who had given five players to the Italian national team and four in the French national team and were fighting for the (World Cup) title.

"The atmosphere changed, they wanted to break Juventus and the national team broke. Remember what (Antonio) Giraudo said? 'We're leaving, you'll see who comes.'

"Since (FIGC president Gabriele) Gravina arrived, we've been eliminated in the first round and other times we haven't qualified. If (Napoleon) Bonaparte said he preferred lucky generals to good ones, Gravina is neither. Now he hides behind the Federal Council, where he knows he can find friends."

As scathing as he was, Moggi had words of support for Italy coach Rino Gattuso.

He also said: "He's the only one who loves football. And the tears on TV were real. Some might say he's not up to coaching the national team, but he's a decent person who ended up there by chance.

"It takes at least three or four years to get back on track. Look at the youth academies, everything needs to change. Italian teams look for foreigners; if someone emerges, they make money. And that's not good for Italian football."