Inter coach Simone Inzaghi was quizzed
on Wednesday by investigators probing alleged violence,
intimidation and other criminal activities by leaders of the
club's hardcore 'ultra' fans and those of city rivals AC Milan.
Prosecutors may also quiz, as people with information about the
matter, Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti, former Nerazzurri
defender, now at PSG, Milan Skriniar, and Milan captain Davide
Calabria, judicial sources have said.
The names of officials and players of the two clubs appear in
the case documents over alleged "pressure" they came under and
links with the ultras, sources said.
The probe led to 19 arrests and prosecutors have opened a
separate "prevention procedure" against the two Milanese Serie A
clubs.
The two clubs are currently not under investigation but will
need to prove that they have cut ties with the 'ultra' world, in
particular regarding the management of ticket sales.
The clubs risk being placed under judicial administration, the
sources explained.
According to court papers, the clubs, in particular Inter,
granted illicit concessions in economic activities including
ticket sales, "providing tickets to people who belong to
criminal organizations who then resold them at a huge price
markup".
This also regarded people who were under investigation or had
been convicted for "Mafia-Style criminal association who
transferred the money to the Mafia family they belonged to",
according to the papers.
Investigators referred to the stable relationship between the We
Are Milano group headed by Inter ultra leader Andrea Beretta and
the club as well as the regular access to the stadium of clan
members who did not have a ticket after "strong acts of
intimidation" against the stewards, "a situation that had been
going on for years".
The measure also cited as an example a "meeting" between some
ultra leaders like Marco Ferdico, who was among the people
arrested, with Skriniar and "contacts with coach" Simone
Inzaghi.
In particular Ferdico "explicitly asked Inzaghi to intervene
with the club, or directly with (Giuseppe) Marotta", Inter's
president, "to obtain an additional 200 tickets" for the
Champions League final in Istanbul last year, according to
wiretapped conversations from May 2023 that were included in the
arrest warrants.
Ferdico was allegedly promised by Inzaghi that he would talk to
the club's heads, including Marotta, according to investigators.
The probe highlighted that the Inter club was in a "situation of
subjugation towards members of the Curva Nord" football fan
group, and ended up "granting them favours, even though it was
forced to do so".
Although the investigation focused on the years "2019 and 2020,
the situation has not changed, as of today", according to the
measure issued by Milan preliminary investigations judge (GIP)
Domenico Santoro.
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