{"id":634814,"date":"2026-04-27T21:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634814\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T21:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:00:20","slug":"is-it-the-new-calciopoli-explaining-the-refereeing-scandal-that-has-rocked-italian-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634814\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Is it the new Calciopoli?\u2019 \u2013 Explaining the refereeing scandal that has rocked Italian football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gianluca Rocchi is a member of Italian football\u2019s Hall of Fame<\/a>. His biography explains why. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) describes him as \u201cone of the most prominent referees in our game in recent years\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 52-year-old Florentine was the fourth official at the 2013 Champions League final. He took charge of the 2017 European Super Cup and oversaw the 2019 Europa League final. When he hung up his whistle and retired the following year only Concetto Lo Bello, the Pierluigi Collina before Pierluigi Collina, counted more top-flight games in Serie A than him.<\/p>\n

The send-off Rocchi received at the Allianz Stadium in 2020 moved him. \u201cI\u2019d like to thank Juventus and Roma for giving me such a wonderful and unforgettable experience at a time I thought would be a sad one,\u201d he told Sky Italia<\/a>. The players applauded him, showing their esteem. It meant a lot to Rocchi because \u201cafter all, they are the first and most important judges\u201d of the work a referee does.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Rocchi must submit himself for questioning by prosecutors in Milan. He is accused, in his role as the referee designator of CAN (the National Referees\u2019 Committee for Serie A and B), of committing fraud in sport<\/a>. The story, first broken by the Agenzia Italia<\/a> newswire, sent shockwaves through Italian football.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it the new Calciopoli?\u201d asked Tuttosport\u2019s front page. It is the question on everybody\u2019s lips. Calciopoli upended Serie A exactly 20 years ago<\/a>. It was a scandal about the way power and influence was exerted on, among other things, the selection of referees in Italy\u2019s top flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am certain I will emerge from this unscathed and stronger than before,\u201d Rocchi said in a statement<\/a> explaining \u201cthe painful and difficult\u201d decision to place himself under suspension with immediate effect from his role with CAN. Andrea Gervasoni, the VAR supervisor for CAN, followed suit. Gervasoni also figures in the investigation by the Milan prosecutors\u2019 office. \u201cWe don\u2019t even understand why he is being accused,\u201d his lawyer said.<\/p>\n

This is a story with many, many layers. It is about the general exasperation with the standard of refereeing and VAR protocol in Italy. It is about a refereeing body seemingly at war with itself. It is about the future too. What\u2019s at stake is not only the credibility of Italian football, already fragile and scarred by past scandals and declining performance, but, more crucially, the direction the game chooses after calcio was hit by what Gazzetta dello Sport called \u201canother shock\u201d to the football system less than a month after Italy\u2019s failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.<\/p>\n

How did it come to this? Why are prosecutors in Milan looking into the goings-on at Italy\u2019s equivalent of PGMOL and Stockley Park? Well, it all began with a tap on a window.<\/p>\n

In March last year, Udinese played Parma at the Bluenergy stadium. Watching from their booth at the International Broadcast Centre in Lissone, on the outskirts of Milan, the VAR, Daniele Paterna, and his assistant, Simone Sozza, spotted a possible handball in the area by Parma\u2019s then centre-back, Botond Balogh.<\/p>\n

As is routine, they checked to see if Fabio Maresca, the referee on the day, made the correct decision to wave play on. Paterna thought Balogh\u2019s arm was close to the body. Another angle reinforced his opinion. It wasn\u2019t a penalty.<\/p>\n

Somebody then tapped on the window of the VAR booth. Paterna turned, looking apparently at whoever was trying to get his attention and appeared<\/a> to mouth: \u201cIs it a penalty?\u201d Maresca was then informed to bring play to a halt and carry out an on-field review. A penalty was awarded, Florian Thauvin scored and Udinese won 1-0 against a Parma side fighting, at the time, for survival. Autonomy of decision-making is enshrined in the protocol of the VAR\u2019s role. The knock on the window and apparent change of decision broke it. The knock, allegedly, came from Rocchi.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Thauvin celebrates scoring the penalty (Photo: Mattia Radoni\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The incident already sparked minor controversy at the end of last season. Audio of the dialogue and the audible knock<\/a> found its way into Il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian daily paper published in Rome. Paterna has not spoken publicly about the matter.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Giuseppe Chine, the FIGC\u2019s federal prosecutor, received a complaint. It was from Domenico Rocca, a 42-year-old match official, disillusioned with how CAN was being run. Rocca didn\u2019t understand why some of his peers got plumb matches so soon after bad performances. He wanted an explanation for his own evaluations. What was the criteria CAN used to grade its referees? Jaded by his experience, Rocca listed his grievances which included what he claimed to see at Lissone on the day of Udinese-Parma when, in his telling, Rocchi allegedly overstepped the mark and knocked on the booth window.<\/p>\n

The FIGC immediately opened a case. They interviewed the parties involved and came to their own conclusions. \u201cNo conduct warranting sporting disciplinary action has been found against any member of the Italian Refereeing Association (AIA),\u201d Chine told<\/a> Gazzetta.<\/p>\n

Rarely given to public statements, Chine felt obliged to speak, as since the Milan prosecutor\u2019s office placed Rocchi under investigation, the adequacy of the FIGC\u2019s own probe has come under scrutiny. The FIGC\u2019s investigation, Chine claimed, was more limited in scope, focusing only on what is alleged to have happened at Lissone during Udinese-Parma. The one overseen by the Milan prosecutor\u2019s office is broader.<\/p>\n

If parallels with Calciopoli are being drawn, it is because Rocchi is accused of colluding, on April 2, 2025, with several other individuals at San Siro to designate referees in such a way that was to Inter\u2019s liking. It was the night of the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against AC Milan. Prosecutors allege it was agreed that Daniele Doveri, an official supposedly disapproved of by the Inter hierarchy, would be given the second leg if it meant he wouldn\u2019t then referee the final or Inter\u2019s remaining games of the season. Inter, as it turned out, didn\u2019t even make the final.<\/p>\n

On the same night, it was allegedly decided Andrea Colombo, a referee apparently rated by Inter, would take charge of their upcoming league game with Bologna. Inter lost that game 1-0 and, some felt, Riccardo Orsolini\u2019s late winner should have been a disallowed for a perceived foul throw. Regardless of the result, in cases of sporting fraud the mere attempt, if proven, to manipulate the designation of a referee constitutes an offence.<\/p>\n

The league leaders are not under investigation, nor is anyone connected with the club and it is unclear with whom Rocchi is alleged to have colluded. \u201cThese are allegations that are difficult to understand,\u201d his lawyer Antonio D\u2019Avirro, said. \u201cBecause they suggest that several people were involved, yet these other people are not named. I have never seen a case where the other party to the alleged agreement in a sporting fraud case has not been named.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Colombo taking charge of Inter against Bologna (Photo: Emmanuele Ciancaglini\/Ciancaphoto Studio\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Inter\u2019s president Beppe Marotta had hoped to be celebrating another league title on Sunday. Mathematically that became impossible when Napoli began the weekend with a 4-0 win against Cremonese. If the Scudetto could wait another week, questions about Inter\u2019s appearance in the Milan prosecutor\u2019s investigation into Rocchi and Gervasoni could not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned about this from reading about it in the press,\u201d Marotta told DAZN. \u201cWe were surprised by them. We don\u2019t have a list of referees we like and dislike. Absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to decisions that went against Inter last season, notably a penalty they were not awarded in a 1-0 defeat to Roma last April, that if given and converted would perhaps have been the difference between winning the league and losing it on the final day to Napoli.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Beppe Marotta said Inter \u201chave acted with the utmost integrity\u201d (Photo: Tiziano Ballabio\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Rocchi later publicly called the decision not to award Yann Bisseck and Inter a penalty a mistake in an episode of Open VAR, the weekly show broadcast by DAZN, in which the designator or a match official talks through some, but not all, of the decisions from the weekend\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we have acted with the utmost integrity, and that is the most important thing, which should put everyone\u2019s mind at ease,\u201d Marotta continued on Sky Italia. \u201cI\u2019m not worried; we have no part (in this matter) and won\u2019t have part in it in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what happens now? The Italian Referees Association (AIA), the body to which the National Referees\u2019 Committee (CAN) answers, is in disarray and has been for years. In 2022, its president Alfredo Trentalange, resigned<\/a> after the AIA\u2019s own federal prosecutor, Rosario D\u2019Onofio, was arrested and sentenced<\/a> to five years and eight months as part of an investigation into an alleged large-scale international drug-trafficking operation.<\/p>\n

Trentalange\u2019s successor Antonio Zappi has been banned from holding office for 13 months after allegedly pressuring the referee designator for Serie C, Maurizio Ciampi, and Serie D, Alessandro Pizzi, to resign in order to pave the way for Daniele Orsato and Stefano Braschi to replace them. On Tuesday, a decision will be taken by the Sports Appeals Board over whether or not to definitively uphold Zappi\u2019s ban. \u201cAh, the coincidences,\u201d Corriere dello Sport editor, Ivan Zazzaroni, wrote, alluding to how Italy\u2019s refereeing bodies are allegedly riven by internal feuding and \u201cRocchi wasn\u2019t in the good books of Zappi and the Zappatores\u201d.<\/p>\n

Practically, it means the AIA is without a president and Serie A and B is without a referee designator. In a post on X<\/a>, Italy\u2019s Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, observed: \u201cThe most serious aspect that emerges is the way in which the complaint itself was handled within the football system.\u201d<\/p>\n

It suggested dissatisfaction with the FIGC\u2019s handling of Rocca\u2019s complaint. Chine explained why the FIGC closed its own investigation into knock-knock gate, however, not everyone accepted it. \u201cIf the sporting justice system turns a blind eye, it means the antibodies are not working and the system is too sick to heal itself,\u201d Tuttosport editor Guido Vaciago argued. \u201cA commissioner isn\u2019t necessarily the right remedy, but \u2014 if all the circumstances are confirmed \u2014 the FIGC\u2019s handling of this situation appears to be inadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commissioner of which he speaks would be an appointee in the event of intervention by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Italy\u2019s supreme governing body in sport.<\/p>\n

Ever since Italy\u2019s defeat on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina\u00a0last month, this extreme measure has been tentatively floated. It already happened in 2018, when, in the aftermath of Italy\u2019s first of three consecutive failures to qualify for the World Cup, the FIGC found itself deadlocked and unable to elect a new president.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Italy\u2019s players reacting to missing out on the World Cup (Photo: Image Photo Agency\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The threshold for intervention by CONI is high. The regulations provide for this only in cases of serious mismanagement, breaches of sporting regulations, the inability of governing bodies to function, or the failure to launch national competitions. The decision to intervene or not would rest with the president of CONI, Luciano Buonfiglio. He has been unmoved so far, even though Abodi is reported to be in favour. What about now?<\/p>\n

All of this matters in the power struggle currently taking place to shape the future of Italian football. Elections for the new FIGC president are scheduled to be held on June 22.<\/p>\n

Prospective candidates Giovanni Malago, who delivered the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, and Giancarlo Abete, the current chair of non-league football in Italy, have been canvassing for support before deciding whether they\u2019re going to run. The pair of them met other stakeholders before seeking Abodi\u2019s endorsement. He appeared put out by this.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t annoy me. But it would have been a fitting gesture of respect,\u201d Abodi told<\/a> ANSA. If CONI does now find a pretext to go in and stage an intervention, those elections will not be necessary and Malago and Abete will have wasted their time.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Ezio Maria Simonelli, the president of Serie A, called for calm. He said: \u201cHasty judgements or conclusions of any kind are out of place, whilst we await the outcome of the investigation to establish the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 68-year-old did not believe the case should \u201ccall into question the intellectual honesty and work of an entire system\u201d. He vowed: \u201cIf it should transpire that someone has acted wrongly, it will be right that they face the consequences. But under no circumstances is it permissible to cast doubt on the credibility of the system and the integrity of the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gianluca Rocchi is a member of Italian football\u2019s Hall of Fame. His biography explains why. The Italian Football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[132079,307367,307366,64,63,6257,2331,240341,126352,596,19264,1614,10815,13198,85,95104],"class_list":{"0":"post-634814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-associazione-calcio-milan","9":"tag-associazione-sportiva-roma","10":"tag-atalanta-bergamasca-calcio","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-champions-league","14":"tag-culture","15":"tag-fc-internazionale-milano","16":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-juventus","19":"tag-premier-league","20":"tag-serie-a","21":"tag-soccer","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-ssc-napoli"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}