Some 50 people were detained on
Tuesday and over 70 are under investigation in relation to a
probe into alleged match-fixing in Italian lower leagues
orchestrated by the Calabrian-based 'Ndrangheta mafia.
Over 30 teams from Italy's Lega Pro and Serie D, the third
and fourth tiers of Italian soccer, are allegedly involved in
the betting-related scam.
Tuesday's operation, nicknamed Dirty Soccer, was
coordinated by investigators in Rome and the Calabrian city of
Catanzaro.
It began when wiretaps of Pietro Iannazzo, a member of a
Calabria Mob clan, revealed moves to fix matches to make money
from bets.
Prosecutors said that 28 matches from the current campaign
are under suspicion.
Players, coaches, and club executives were among the
people detained on Tuesday, as well as a policeman.
Investigators said that two groups with backers from
countries including Kazakstan, Serbia and Slovenia were behind
the match-fixing, one focusing on Lega Pro and the other on
Serie D.
In the warrants to detain the suspects, prosecutors
described the case as a "new Romanzo Criminale" referring to an
Italian film and spin-off TV series inspired by the Banda della
Magliana gangster band.
It said the perpetrators had "caused economic damage,
mocked the passion of people who follow their team, harmed
investments and the hopes of the families of youngsters coming
into the world of soccer".
The prosecutors also said the laws on sporting betting
needed to be revamped.
"Radical reform of the legislation regulating the types of
bets that have contaminated the sporting world is clearly
necessary," the warrant read.
They added that in some cases, such as those of Neapolis
and Brindisi in Serie D, the alleged match-fixing was linked to
bids to win promotion, rather than money from betting scams.
Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio
said Tuesday that his body was the injured party.
"We are a body that wants to defend the system from
certain things, but our means are not up to it," he said.
Italian soccer has been hit by a series of match-fixing
probes in recent years.
The massive Last Bet operation, which started in Cremona
in 2011 and had branches in Bari and Naples over attempts to fix
matches in Serie A and Serie B, has lead to a series of
convictions and sporting suspensions for players involved.
In 2006 Juventus were relegated and stripped of two Serie
A titles for involvement in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal
regarding schemes to have compliant referees officiate some
teams' matches.
Damiano Tommasi, the head of Italian professional
footballers association AIC, said that Tuesday's probe
highlighted the dangers of allowing betting on amateur games.
"Opening the amateur world to betting was risky because
there are more than 160 teams and the matches are not
broadcast," the former AS Roma and Italy midfielder said.
"So it's difficult to check on them. Our world is tempting
for people pursuing crime. Clarification is needed as soon as
possible".
Serie D is made up of predominantly amateur players.
FIGC Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi has requested the case
documentation from prosecutors so he can look into eventual
sporting procedures.
In a separate case, Italian finance police officers on
Tuesday conducted inspections at the officers of the Serie A
League and of several pay-TV companies in Milan and Rome, ANSA
sources said.
The operation was conducted in coordination with the
anti-trust authority.
It is linked to a probe into possible agreements between
the main pay-TV broadcaster, Sky and Mediaset, to limit
competition when it came to contracts worth a total of 945
million stipulated by the League in June 2014 for TV rights for
soccer matches from 2015 to 2018, the sources said.
Sports marketing firm Infront, which advises the League on
soccer rights, told ANSA on Tuesday that it "has provided every
document requested by the Anti-Trust Authority and is already
working with them".
Giovanni Malagò, the head of Italian Olympic Committee
CONI, said the inspection may just have been a formality
following a complaint and "does not necessarily mean that there
are things that are not right".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
