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 "The probe demonstrates there was a heinous pact of corruption in
the world of soccer," Andrea Grassi, investigator for Italy's elite
SCO, an Italian anti-mafia police unit, told Reuters.
"It shows the interest of criminal networks in the business
generated by soccer and the legal betting industry."
The investigation began when police tapped the telephone of a member
of the Iannazzo mob family in Calabria, discovering that he was
arranging matches in order to make money by betting on them, a
police official told Reuters.
The charges included conspiracy to commit sporting fraud, which in
some cases favored organized crime groups. The continuing
investigation also includes second division, or Serie B, games,
police said.
Investigators suspect 28 Lega Pro and Serie D matches from the
2014-15 season were rigged. Among those sought by police for bribing
players and coaches were Serbs, Albanians and Maltese nationals.
Police across Italy rounded up suspects in the early hours --
including 27 team presidents and managers, 17 players, five coaches,
and one police officer -- and raided club offices.
Italy has been rocked by other match-fixing scandals in recent
years. Mafia groups have increasingly tapped into the country's
legal gambling industry, Europe's largest, as a way to earn and
launder money.
The previous scandal followed the 2010-11 season, when the results
of Serie B and third division -- Lega Pro -- matches were discovered
to have been set up.
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In the latest scandal, investigators said there were two different
criminal gangs, one to set up the games in Lega Pro and the other
those in Serie D.
"In some cases they fixed the matches in a hotel room," a police
official said, saying that there was video surveillance of at least
one meeting.
Some of the clubs targeted by the investigation are Pro Patria,
Barletta, Brindisi, L'Aquila, Neapolis, Mugnano, Torres,
Vigor-Lametia, Santarcangelo, Sorrento, Montalto, Puteolana, Akragas
and San Severo, police said.
(Additional reporting by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Ralph
Boulton)
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