When public prosecutors tapped telephone calls at Italian football giants Juventus in 2004, they were hunting for evidence of doping.
What they believed they found was corruption on a far more systematic scale.
They thought they had evidence of Juve general manager Luciano Moggi pressurising referee officials to favour certain clubs, including his own. Moggi denied the claims.
However, Juve, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina were all implicated in influencing referees.
All were given points deductions, but only Juventus ultimately dropped into the second tier of Italian football.
There was a split in the club’s superstar squad.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira joined rivals Inter Milan for a combined £23m, Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson went to Real Madrid for £13.7m, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta joined Barcelona for £13m, and Adrian Mutu went to Fiorentina for £5.5m.
But other key players – notably Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro del Piero, Giorgio Chiellini, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet – remained with Juve in Serie B.
Despite beginning the season with a nine-point penalty and an opening-day draw with minnows Rimini, Juventus were promoted at the first attempt.
The club still lay claim to the 2004–05 and 2005–06 titles that were stripped from them, counting 38 rather than the official 36.