People & Power - The Fix

With the possible exception of their most fervent supporters, few people would have expected the match between Unione Sportiva Cremonese and Pagenese to be anything special. It was just another routine league tie between two unglamorous Italian third division sides.

But when the teams took to the field at Cremonese’s home ground one Saturday afternoon in November 2010, it set off a sequence of events that would resonate across the world of professional football.