The Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta
mafia acted as "intermediary and guarantor" for ticket touting
by Juventus ultra fans, Italy's parliamentary anti-mafia
commission said in its report on sport and mafia Thursday.
In September the sentence of a trial into 'Ndrangheta
infiltration of the political and business worlds of upper
Piedmont said Ndrangheta controls Juventus fan groups and wages
an "intimidating" role in ticketing and ticket-touting.
An Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) court recently banned
Juve President Andrea Agnelli for one year for improper contacts
with ultra fans including a member of 'Ndrangheta over
ticketing, while acknowledging he was unaware of the man's
criminal background.
Thursday's report was presented by panel chair Rosy Bindi and
the head of the mafia and sport committee, Marco Di Lello.
Bindi said "soccer, like any body, is not healthy enough to
consider itself immune from the mafias, it is a world rich in
money and possibility of creating consensus."
Di Lello said "for many years the phenomenon was
underestimated".
photo: Juve fans before this year's Champions League final
against Real Madrid, which Juve lost 4-1
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