To be a real Italian tycoon you need a huge range of business and financial interests—and a football club at the apex of your empire. Silvio Berlusconi, until recently Italy's prime minister, has his media and insurance businesses—and owns AC Milan. The Agnellis are synonymous with Fiat and Juventus football club. As for Diego Delia Valle—well, he is chairman of Tod's, Italy's largest high-quality shoe business, sits on the board of Ferrari and LVMH and is president of Fiorentina football club. In normal times, football would be regarded as a harmless source of prestige and fun. But now some of Italy's biggest clubs, in particular Juventus, are enmeshed in an alleged match-fixing scandal. And even Mr Delia Valle-who has often taken a rather holier-than-thou attitude in his business dealings-finds himself under investigation by magistrates over the football scandal.
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