Buffon Reveals Why He & Other Stars Chose to Stay at Juventus After Their Relegation to Serie B

Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon has opened up about the Calciopoli scandal, expressing that he stayed with Juventus to honour the shirt and fans of the Bianconeri.

Calciopoli (or 'Footballsville' in English) was a scandal that linked Juventus and other Serie A teams to a network of relations between team managers and refereeing organisations, whereby teams would pick favourable officials in order to increase their chances of winning.

As a result, Juventus were relegated to Serie B. However, along with the likes of Pavel Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Mauro Camoranesi, Buffon stayed loyal to Juve, and as a result, sent Sunday evening celebrating his sixth straight Serie A title win.

​“I have six Scudetti in a row, but also 10 in my career [including the two revoked in the Calciopoli scandal]," Buffon wrote in a column for La Stampa (via Football Italia).

“Yes, 10. I’m not ashamed to say that. I won them all, on the pitch, next to the champions whose faces, fatigue and smiles I can see as I write.

“The FIGC, Wikipedia or the Lega [Serie A] say there are eight. I won’t discuss referees, judges or laws, but no-one can deny me the right to feel all of them.

“A pride which comes back to me is the summer of 2006. A hot and frenzied summer, a summer of understandable exits and an exodus which couldn’t be judged.

“But also a summer of conformations and a desire to change history. In fact, to write history. No-one like us. No-one before us.

“I’m thinking of Pavel [Nedved], Alex [Del Piero], David [Trezeguet], Camo [Mauro Camoranesi]… and then myself.

“We chose to stay together to honour a shirt, a club, a fanbase. We lost everything to gain things which aren’t measurable and can’t be bartered: respect, affection.

“Founding values for a group and a team, because without us there would be no victories, records and conquests."