Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office: "Infiltration into Serie A and Serie B stadiums, weak response. Football risks collapse of legality."

In Rome, during the seminar "Mafias in Sport. Sport Against the Mafia" at Lumsa University, Deputy National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor Antonio Ardituro opened a front that is shaking up the entire Italian football movement. "There's a complex issue affecting Serie A and Serie B that is a major problem today," he stated, noting how his office closely monitors "the infiltration of Camorra criminal organizations into organized fan bases and the relationship between them and the clubs." This dual level, he explained, "truly represents the heart of the problem."

The magistrate recalled recent cases involving clubs that are iconic in Italian football: "When I talk to you about Juventus, Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, and Napoli, I'm talking to you about the football we love. It's precisely this football, however, that introduced us to the 'Ndrangheta infiltration of Juventus' organized fan bases; a trial just a year ago uncovered deep-rooted infiltration at the highest levels of the AC Milan and Inter fan bases, resulting in settling scores and murders; and the Diabolik affair at Lazio. These phenomena have also affected Napoli fans in the past."

According to Ardituro, the crux lies in the anomalous relationship between clubs and organized groups, a relationship that transforms the stands into "extraterritorial places, without jurisdiction and without control by state, sports, football, or club organizations." A free zone where, he complains, "anything can happen." Parking, steward management, ticket sales: a significant economic circuit that attracts criminal groups disguised as fans. "They're not fans singing chants and carrying flags," he says, "but criminal organizations with mafia infiltration."

The situation, however, doesn't seem to elicit the necessary reaction. "I have to tell you the truth: we're struggling to get the public, sports institutions, and perhaps even institutions in general to understand the significance of this phenomenon." Ardituro notes that three professional clubs are currently under judicial administration: Crotone and Foggia in Serie C, and Juve Stabia in Serie B. He adds that investigations are underway into matters involving AC Milan and Inter. "We're facing a huge phenomenon, but I challenge anyone to say that the public debate is addressing it."

The magistrate warns that without a change of pace, the risk is irreversible deterioration: "If there is no reaction, because the responses of sports institutions are timid, very timid, towards clubs, players, coaches, and members, the phenomenon will continue to grow and we will find ourselves in increasingly less clean situations from the standpoint of legality and transparency."