Late-night activity leaves players with red faces

"Players are regular clients, they're the sort of people who come looking for our services, even if they don't do it directly themselves . . . They want you, to talk to you, to drink together, to have a laugh and then, logically, you usually end up the night in bed with them. That's what they pay $1,500 for . . .

"Mind you, footballers are not my preferred type. They're often arrogant and then, in a group, they get even worse. They're vain and always worrying about their physique. They're rich and good-looking and they let you know it."

The above speaker is "Monica", a woman whose "services", until recently, were featured on an Internet site called metropolitan.it, which advertised the names of men and women (complete with photographs and phone numbers), offering sex for money.

Monica and her colleagues made the sports pages last week when it emerged that police investigators, carrying out surveillance on metropolitan.it, had discovered that a group of players from Inter Milan were among the clientele. A few weeks ago Inter players and team officials came together for a night out at a well known Milanese restaurant. The mood in the team camp was lighthearted and relaxed. Inter had picked up five points in their previous three Serie A games against Atalanta (1-0), AC Milan (2-2) and Parma (1-1). By the standards of this season's Inter, that was a good run.

After the meal, most of the players headed for home. However five, plus one team employee, opted for a little latenight activity.

Phone calls were made and, soon enough, some attractive young women appeared on the scene. The players and the women then headed off to the apartment of the team employee, when each of the six man team managed to "score".

Nothing especially unusual about this, a cynic might argue. Indeed, not. Young and wealthy professional footballers are not monks nor have they taken vows of chastity. There was a problem, however: one of the women was being tailed by Milan police within the ambit of the investigation into metropolitan.it.

The site has since been closed down and the two men who ran it have been accused of aiding and abetting prostitution. The players, however, face no charges as they have committed no offence.

According to investigators, the Inter players had "hired" their company for the night via the site.

There has been more amusement than indignation among the public. At Inter's training ground one set of fans greeted the players with a chorus of: "Next Time, Bring Us Along Too".

Even coach Marco Tardelli played down the whole incident, telling reporters that if it happened "it was only a superficial thing".

"Mind you, if you do things like this and then get caught, it just goes to show that you're not used to doing certain things . . . In my time, I never got caught."

One person who was less amused was Inter owner, petrol millionaire Massimo Moratti. He confessed last week that the latest saga at the troubled club had prompted him to think of selling his majority shareholding.

He added that the players involved will be subject to unspecified disciplinary action.