[D-Kin]

Zeman: Calciopoli did nothing Thursday 18 October, 2007

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Ex-Roma Coach Zdenek Zeman believes that the Calciopoli scandal has had no impact on the state of Italian football.

The outspoken Czech tactician has a history of publicly criticising alleged corruption within calcio and he insists that it will take a long time to cleanse the game.

“I think that lots of things are changing, but I haven’t seen any big steps forward yet,” Zeman told Radio Kiss Kiss.

“It won’t be at all easy to do anything with the same people in the same positions.”

Zeman is also disappointed that games have had to be played in closed, or partially closed, stadiums this season due to security fears.

“Football without fans is terrible, but it is the only way as we need to start down the road to eliminating violence from the game,” he admitted.

Roma face Napoli in the Derby del Sud this weekend – two sides that Zeman spent time in charge of.

“I feel half Roman as I lived in the capital for 15 years and although I lived in Naples for only a short time it seemed similar due to its passion for football.”

As for Zeman’s future, it seems that the unemployed Coach may not be headed back to Italy.

“It would be difficult to return to Serie A,” he concluded. “It is more likely that I’ll end up at a foreign team.”

channel4.com - Football Italia