Tuttosport: One Milan game involved as Rocchi is investigated for Inter favouritism

The man in charge of assigning the referees to Serie A games, Gianluca Rocchi, is under investigation for sporting fraud and there is a risk that the matter will escalate. 

Yesterday, as was very clearly highlighted on today’s front pages, the news dropped like a bomb: Rocchi, head of AIA’s CAN A-B, is under investigation for sporting fraud. The same applies to the VAR supervisor Andrea Gervasoni.

Gist of the situation

As outlined by Tuttosport this morning (via MilanNews), Rocchi is under investigation for two things: 1) pressuring VAR to award a penalty in a certain game and 2) to have – on several occasions – assigned ‘favourable’ referees to Inter games.

It is believed that ‘secret meetings’ have been held between Rocchi and Inter to determine which referees the Nerazzurri like and don’t like, after which the former made his picks. It didn’t always go Inter’s way in the end, though, losing two of the three games cited in the investigation.

The Coppa Italia semi-final return against Milan last season, which the Rossoneri won by three goals to nil, is one of the games. Daniele Doveri was assigned to that game as Inter supposedly wanted to avoid him in a potential final, thus prompting Rocchi to put him in the semi-final instead.

At this time, in addition to Rocchi, Gervasoni is also under investigation and both have suspended themselves from duty until further clarification arrives.

What happens now

The next step will be the preliminary hearing on Thursday, April 30, when Rocchi will have to answer before the Prosecutor’s Office in Milan. Depending on the outcome, there could be disastrous effects for Italian football, as there could almost be a Calciopoli 2.0.

A special administration could be appointed to the FIGC, which has been preparing for a new presidency election on June 22, to steer the ship while the chaos continues.

The FIGC Federal Prosecutor’s Office has also requested the documents from the Milan Prosecutor’s Office, while the CONI Prosecutor’s Office has asked the first of the three for clarification on why the investigation was shelved a year ago (Rocchi was then cleared on a sporting level).

In short, there is a lot going on at the moment and we will have to wait for more concrete details to make a proper verdict.