 He held the position of Italian vice chairman of the UEFA Referees Committee until the summer of 2006, when it was discovered that he had been in regular telephone contact with Juventus F.C.chief executive Luciano Moggi regarding which referees would be selected for Juventus' UEFA Champions League fixtures.As a result of his involvement in this scandal, he initially received a ban of two years and six months from football, although this was later increased to three and a half years.