The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) are to open an investigation into Internazionale and their owner Massimo Moratti in the wake of comments made by referee Massimo De Santis.

De Santis, who was banned for four years by the FIGC in the match-fixing scandal this summer, claimed Moratti had illegally recorded his telephone conversations.

The complaint relates to the 2002/03 season when former Inter vice-president, the late Giacinto Facchetti, held a conversation with referee Danilo Nucini.

Bergamo-based referee Nucini told Facchetti he feared De Santis had an extraordinary relationship with the then Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and other Juventus directors.

Facchetti passed on Nucini's remarks to Inter owner Moratti, who hired a team of investigators - 'Polis d'Istinto' - to record De Santis' telephone conversations, to follow and film him and his wife and take secret photographs.

After a state investigation was last week opened up into the illegal monitoring of telephone calls by the Italian Telecom, details of Moratti's private investigation were revealed.

The Inter owner faces the prospect of a suspension for breaking the game's code of conduct relating to fairness and honesty.

Inter could receive a fine, although a points deduction is not a possibility since they have, at worst, broken article one of the code of conduct and not articles two or six, which were infringed upon by Juventus, who were consequently relegated to Serie B this summer.

This latest disturbance comes at a time when the FIGC are attempting to put all the problems from this summer behind them.