Referees Luigi Nasca, Rodolfo Di Vuolo and Daniele Paterna have been placed under investigation along with Gianluca Rocchini and Andrea Gervasoni. According to reports from Italy, the number of people involved in the latest scandal in Italian football could increase significantly in the coming hours.
Italian sources, including La Gazzetta dello Sport, report that three referees have been placed under investigation after Rocchini, who was previously involved in the appointment of referees and the supervision of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), was implicated. Nasca, Di Vuolo and Paterna are suspected of having provided false information to prosecutors, according to the reports.
Paterna is pictured in a photo claiming that a person outside the VAR room was directing officials on what to say to the referee on the pitch, in a clear breach of protocol. Investigators believe that VAR officials were influenced by people outside the control room, who could undermine the independence and accuracy of their decision-making through coded messages.
According to the Gazetta newspaper, the number of people under investigation could increase in the near future. The Milan prosecutor's office will question Rocchini and Gervasoni on April 30. Rocchini's lawyer, Antonio D'Avirro, has given interviews to Italian media and says his client is facing injustice.
“I met him and he is demoralized, because he believes he is the victim of an injustice,” D'Avirro told the Pressing newspaper. “He considers all the accusations unfounded. He has always acted with loyalty and transparency and is very worried to be accused of something so serious,” he initially added. “I don’t know if he will return, but we will certainly be able to defend ourselves effectively. We are currently evaluating the defense strategies that we will follow until Thursday,” he added.
Rocchi has suspended himself from his duties while he is under investigation for his involvement in sports fraud. “Other people are also mentioned, but we don’t know who they are,” D’Avirro added to Sport Mediaset. “It is an offence involving many people, but only Rocchi is mentioned in the investigation notice,” the lawyer continued. “This is a different case from Calciopoli; then there were hundreds of people involved around the clubs, while here we are only dealing with two or three individuals,” he concluded.
