The investigation into referees and the alleged pressure to change decisions is accelerating. The Milan Prosecutor's Office has heard witnesses, as well as key accusers, such as former VAR official Eugenio Abbattista, who resigned from the Italian Referees Association during the season, in March 2024.
"Getting off a train stuck in the stench of prejudice, victimhood, and ungrateful lack of historical memory is the most sensible choice I could have made," Abbattista said two years ago, later explaining in a TV interview that he "resigned because I was tired of the disgust I felt around me." He, like Domenico Rocca, now known for his complaint and also heard as a witness by prosecutor Maurizio Ascione and the Guardia di Finanza, also attacked the arbitration world, especially for its commission's votes and evaluations and for its "purges."
High-profile suspect Gianluca Rocchi, a former Serie A and Serie B referee who was suspended and accused of sports fraud, will skip Thursday's hearing: "I don't know the case file, and a defense is impossible," his lawyer says.
Meanwhile, as reported by Ansa, the CONI Guarantee Board has rejected Antonio Zappi's appeal against the 13-month suspension previously imposed on him. Zappi has thus been removed from his position as president of the AIA.
(Unioneonline)
