Prandelli would not fight Euro withdrawal

The full scale of the match-fixing crisis in Italy was made clear yesterday as coach Cesare Prandelli said he would have “no problem” if the national team was withdrawn from Euro 2012, nine days ahead of their opening fixture against Spain.

The Italy boss was speaking at the end of a week which has seen police make 19 arrests, including Lazio captain Stefano Mauri, while Prandelli dropped Domenico Criscito from his squad for the Euros after the Zenit St Petersburg defender was questioned at the team training camp.

Those events led Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to suggest the game would benefit from being suspended for “two to three years” to root out the problem once and for all, but the scandal has only continued to spread with the lawyer of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon forced to leap to the defence of his client last night amid further claims.