JOIN USItaly ready to quit: Prandelli
Italy would quit the European Championship if they were asked to do so for the good of the game, coach Cesare Prandelli said on Friday after match-fixing allegations again tarnished the Azzurri's image.
"If they would say to us that for the good of football the national team must not go to the Euros, it would not be a problem," Prandelli told Rai television a week before the tournament starts in Ukraine and Poland.
Neither European governing body UEFA nor the Italian soccer federation have suggested Italy pull out of the tournament but Prandelli is preparing himself nevertheless.
"There are more important things," he added. Left back Domenico Criscito was left out of the Euro 2012 squad earlier this week after police formally warned him that he was under investigation over match-fixing.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Leonardo Bonucci, both in the squad ahead of Italy opening their Group C campaign against holders Spain on June 10, have denied reports they have been involved in illegal betting.
"I want to talk only about football but what is happening requires us to discuss something different. We continue to say that those involved will not leave for the Euros," Prandelli added before defending Juventus pair Buffon and Bonucci.
"Buffon is very strong, he has great personality," he said.
"The Juventus players, until proven otherwise, have not been put under formal investigation."
Italy's 2006 World Cup triumph followed another major match-fixing scandal and pundits said the bond within the squad created by the affair helped them in their success.
Meanwhile, Buffon's lawyer denied media reports that his client may have placed illegal bets. Italian media reported that Turin magistrates had sought information about 14 personal cheques for a value of more than 1.5 million euros ($1.85 million) signed by the Italy captain in 2010 and placed at a betting agency in a Parma tobacconist's shop.
The reports, carried on the websites of several newspapers, said the investigators had sought information from magistrates investigating the widening match-fixing scandal in Italian soccer to see if they were linked to illegal betting.
Marco Valerio Corini, the lawyer for the 34 year-old Juventus goalkeeper, denied any suggestion of wrongdoing by his client. Gambling on sporting events is legal in Italy although Italian Football Federation rules restrict betting on soccer matches by players.