SERIE A ORGANISED CRIME:Fresh concerns after investigation into Mafia ties to gambling trends, writes PADDY AGNEW

NOT FOR the first time this year, the malevolent shadow of organised crime hung menacingly over Italian football yesterday following the arrest of eight people in Torre Annuziata, close to Naples. Neapolitan investigators believe that at least two Camorra clans, the D’Alessandro and Di Martino families, have been systematically gambling heavily on Serie A, B and C (first, second and third division) matches, with a view to money laundering.

On the basis of information supplied by the Italian betting authority, the Agenzia dei Monopoli and by online betting services such as Sks365, investigators have looked into 150 Italian games over the last two seasons which generated “anomalous” betting trends.

In that context, two betting shops in the Torre Annunziata area, believed to have been run by the Camorra clans, were sequestered yesterday.

Investigators are convinced that a unknown number of games, especially in the lower divisions, have been “fixed”. They believe that various “Ultra” fans have called on Camorra contacts to “pressurise” players prior to a big match, especially in the lower divisions, so as to guarantee a specific result.

“It can be seen that organised crime makes itself felt and even tries to intervene (in various matches),” said senior investigator Rosario Cantelmo.

Like the “Last Bet” gambling scandal which broke last spring, this one also appears to involve the highest level of professional Italian football. Investigators confirmed yesterday that the Bologna director Stefano Pedrelli has been questioned in relation to three Serie A defeats suffered by Bologna towards the end of last season, at home to Napoli and away to Brescia and Chievo.

Over the coming days, it is expected other club directors will be questioned in relation to possible involvement of their clubs.

The involvement of organised crime in Italian soccer, especially at the lower “Lega Pro” (3rd 4th Division) level is nothing new. Mafia investigators have long warned that organised crime regularly attempts to control, even to sponsor and fund, small local teams with a view not only to winning local consensus but also as a way of generating for itself a “pool” of future foot soldiers.

Perhaps the most infamous example of the impact of organised crime on Italian football concerned Diego Maradona whose links to the Camorra were documented by Neapolitan police during his time with Napoli, from 1984 to 1991.

When the “Last Bet” scandal broke this spring, many Italian papers carried photos showing Antonio Lo Russo, son of Camorra boss Salvatore Lo Russo, standing on the sidelines at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples during an April 2010 Napoli v Parma game, which ended with a “surprise” 3-2 away win for Parma. A Carabinieri report at the time, reproduced by daily Il Messaggero claimed that “many people linked to the Lo Russo and Scissionisti clans” had gambled heavily on a Parma win.

Speaking to weekly magazine L’Espresso two months ago, Italy’s senior anti-Mafia investigator, Piero Grasso said: “Make no mistake, Mafiosi have made the most of the chance to get into a business (betting) in which they can both make a lot of money and at the same time calmly invest and recycle huge sums.

“Investigations carried out by many different anti-Mafia units confirm that organised crime is taking over a huge chunk of the betting market, a market whose profits, including legal profits, is on the increase.

“This whole area is becoming the new Mafia frontier.”