Remember when they had a Bayern-like impregnable hold on that league?
Seems ages ago now.
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Competition Italian football!
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Seems ages ago now.
The mafia, a motorbike murder and the Champions League final
A confession to police cracks open a grisly case of ‘ultra’ violence just as Inter Milan seek European glory on Saturday
www.thetimes.com
The mafia, a motorbike murder and the Champions League final
Summarise
A confession to police cracks open a grisly case of ‘ultra’ violence just as Inter Milan seek European glory on Saturday
September 13 2024, 5.45pm BST
Andrea Beretta, standing, ordered the hit on the organiser of drug dealing at Inter Milan’s San Siro stadium. Beretta also fatally stabbed Antonio Bellocco, foreground
JAM PRESS; CHRISTIAN SANTI/ALAMY
A man linked to Italy’s most powerful mafia has confessed to taking part in the murder of the boss of “ultra” fans at Milan’s top football club, shedding light on mob involvement in sport.
Pietro Simoncini has told police he drove the motorbike carrying the killer who fired five shots at Vittorio Boiocchi, the ultra leader at Inter Milan who ran drug dealing on the terraces at the club’s home, the San Siro stadium.
Simoncini, 41, was allegedly hired to take part in the 2022 drive-by killing outside Boiocchi’s home because of his mob credentials: he had been involved in a murderous feud in Calabria, southern Italy, between clans in the feared ‘Ndrangheta mafia.
Vittorio Boiocchi, left, was killed outside his home
The hit was ordered by Andrea Beretta, Boiocchi’s No 2 in the ranks of the ultra football hooligans at the club, who wanted to take over his lucrative drug rackets. The murder was allegedly planned by Beretta and the ultras’ spokesman, Marco Ferdico. “We organised everything,” Beretta said.
Ferdico is a Calabrian with mob connections living in Milan who knew Simoncini, the alleged motorbike driver, because he was dating his daughter. He allegedly paid him €15,000 to travel up from Calabria for the murder.
The killing remained unresolved for three years but a series of confessions has cracked open the case, just as investigators lift the lid on the ultras’ drug dealing and lucrative protection rackets at the stadium.
This month Paolo Storari, a magistrate seeking jail sentences for 16 ultras from both Inter and its rival club, AC Milan, described the groups as “private militias” tolerated by club management.
Among those charged with drug offences are Luca Lucci, known as “The Bull”, a leader of the AC Milan ultras who once posed for photographs with Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hard-right deputy prime minister who is a fan of the club.
Ultra fans have proved useful to clubs since they lay on colourful displays at games, but they have demanded free tickets in return, which they often resell at profit. When their requests are ignored they have resorted to racist chanting which can lead to costly stadium bans for clubs.
• Inter Milan at risk of losing hat-trick of titles — and Simone Inzaghi
The rackets run by Inter ultras risk becoming an embarrassment for the team as it prepares to play Paris Saint-Germain in Munich in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Inter secured progression to the Champions League final with a semi-final victory over Barcelona, enthusiastically celebrated by the centre-back Francesco Acerbi
DANIELE MASCOLO/REUTERS
MATTIA OZBOT/GETTY IMAGES
Investigators have also arrested the man who allegedly shot Boiocchi while Simoncini drove the motorbike. Daniel D’Alessandro, 29, an Inter ultra, was tracked down to Bulgaria, where he was in hiding. Nicknamed “Bellebuono” or “beautiful and good” after a character in the mafia TV show Gomorrah, D’Alessandro has a tear tattooed on his face, which criminals use to indicate they have killed someone.
Simoncini told prosecutors he was meant to shoot Boiocchi and D’Alessandro was meant to drive the motorbike, but D’Alessandro, who had snorted a large amount of cocaine before they set off, crashed the motorbike, prompting Simoncini to take over driving duties.
The murder of Boiocchi was only one link between Inter ultras and the ‘Ndrangheta, which has set up 48 local units in central and northern Italy.
• Murder exposes growing ties between the mafia and Italian football
Soon after Boiocchi’s death, Ferdico allegedly welcomed another man linked to the mafia, Antonio Bellocco, to help run the ultras. Bellocco had previously served nine years in jail for mafia crimes linked to his ‘Ndrangheta clan, which smuggled drugs through Gioia Tauro port in Calabria.
Soon the relationship between Bellocco and Beretta soured as the ultra boss accused him of trying to grab too large a share of the money they were making out of fans. Last year Beretta fatally stabbed the Calabrian in a gym car park during an argument, then claimed he acted in self-defence after Bellocco shot him in the leg.
Beretta is in custody amid fears the Bellocco clan will try to kill him in revenge. He has agreed to reveal all he knows about the Inter fans’ rackets, as well as his decision to hire Simoncini and D’Alessandro to kill Boiocchi in 2022.
The complex story is the latest episode in the Italian mafia’s bid to get a toehold in football. The Camorra mafia from Naples was involved in a reported attempt to take over the Rome club Lazio, while clans from Sicily’s Cosa Nostra have interceded in feuds between fans at Palermo.
Luckily for them, unlike the PL and La Liga, UEFA has shown zero spine for enforcing their own financial regulations.
Salernitana players in hospital with food poisoning before relegation play-off against Sampdoria
Well, good to see we're now not the only club that have faced a lasagnagate.
Well, good to see we're now not the only club that have faced a lasagnagate.
Chelsea fans told to use 'extreme caution' in Napoli after pair injured.
Travelling Chelsea fans in Naples for Wednesday's Champions League game are told to "exercise extreme caution" after two supporters suffer injuries.
www.bbc.co.uk
Let's forget it's the Chavs for a while, but how many more incidents does there need to be with Italian clubs before UEFA come down proper hard on them?
Italy. Turkey. Russia. The Netherlands.Chelsea fans told to use 'extreme caution' in Napoli after pair injured.
Travelling Chelsea fans in Naples for Wednesday's Champions League game are told to "exercise extreme caution" after two supporters suffer injuries.
Let's forget it's the Chavs for a while, but how many more incidents does there need to be with Italian clubs before UEFA come down proper hard on them?
They should get a pass for that. It’s the Chavs they’re doing the rest of us a favour.Chelsea fans told to use 'extreme caution' in Napoli after pair injured.
Travelling Chelsea fans in Naples for Wednesday's Champions League game are told to "exercise extreme caution" after two supporters suffer injuries.
Let's forget it's the Chavs for a while, but how many more incidents does there need to be with Italian clubs before UEFA come down proper hard on them?
Good watch. Combo of politics and footie
ghastly man though
www.bbc.co.uk
ghastly man though
Berlusconi: Condemned to Win
Politics, soccer and scandal. How Silvio Berlusconi rose from AC Milan owner to Italy’s most powerful and polarising figure. He didn't just win elections - he changed the game.
www.bbc.co.uk
Serie A whirlwind as Sarri to Atalanta, Gattuso for Lazio, Milan to fire Allegri
Diese News auf OneFootball lesen.
onefootball.com
This league has got to open its doors to some outside ideas.
View: https://x.com/01fmz/status/2059011654818443531
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