Italian football is in meltdown. Again.
Just weeks after the national team failed to reach the World Cup, the country’s beautiful game has been rocked by a full blown refereeing scandal heading to court this week, with flashbacks to the Calciopoli disaster of 2006.
Gianluca Rocchi, the head of referees in Serie A and Serie B, is facing a criminal investigation for sports fraud and will appear in a Milan court on Friday. Italy’s VAR supervisor Andrea Gervasoni and three others are also being looked at.
The front pages across Italy? They’re having a field day.
THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR THAT SHOOK SERIE A
Rocchi, 52, is no rookie. He was the man in the middle for the 2017 European Super Cup and the 2019 Europa League final. A proper top level ref.
But after hanging up his whistle, he was appointed to oversee referee appointments across Italy’s top two divisions. Now he’s accused of influencing VAR decisions and manipulating match official appointments.
He’s stepped aside while the investigation runs its course. But the damage? Already done.
The incident everyone’s talking about took place during a Serie A match between Udinese and Parma on March 1, 2025.
Here’s what happened, according to The Athletic. The VAR, Daniele Paterna, and his assistant Simone Sozza were checking a possible handball. Paterna thought the Parma defender’s arm was close to his body. Another angle backed him up. No penalty.
Then and this is the really weird bit, somebody tapped on the window of the VAR booth.
Paterna turned. He appeared to mouth: “Is it a penalty?”
Moments later, the referee was told to halt play and carry out an on field review. Penalty given. Udinese won 1-0. Parma, fighting for survival at the time, got nothing.
VAR protocols say decision making autonomy is sacred. The knock on the window broke that. And the knock, allegedly, came from Rocchi.
WHISTLEBLOWER OF THE WHISTLEBLOWERS
The complaint was initially raised by Domenico Rocca, a Serie A assistant referee. He became disillusioned with how appointments was handed out and decided to blow the whistle on the whistleblowers.
Rocca’s evidence detailed Rocchi leaving his position to repeatedly knock on the glass of the VAR room. Paterna was later questioned by prosecutors but they decided he wasn’t being truthful after watching video of the incident.
Separate allegations relate to referee appointments linked to Inter Milan fixtures, including a Cup semi final against AC Milan and a Serie A match against Bologna.
Inter and their officials are NOT under investigation and have denied any involvement. But the club’s name is in the headlines. And they’re not happy about it.
INTER ‘ASTONISHED’ AS MAROTTA FIRES BACK
Inter president Giuseppe Marotta has gone on the record.
“We are learning everything from the press, and all of this astonishes us,” he said. “We do not have ‘preferred’ or ‘unwelcome’ referees. We know we have acted with the utmost integrity, and this should reassure everyone.
“I am calm because Inter is uninvolved and will remain uninvolved in the future.”
Meanwhile, VAR supervisor Gervasoni is under investigation for allegedly intervening in a Serie B match between Salernitana and Modena in March 2025. He’s also suspended himself.
ROCCHI FIGHTS BACK ‘I WILL EMERGE UNSCATHED’
Rocchi has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement, he said he had “always acted correctly” and has “full confidence in the judiciary.”
“I have decided to self suspend, effective immediately. This choice, painful and difficult, is intended to allow for the proper course of the judicial proceedings, from which I am certain I will emerge unscathed and stronger than before.”
His lawyer Antonio D’Avirro told Italian media on Tuesday that Rocchi was “demoralized because he feels like the victim of an injustice.
“He believes these accusations is unfounded. He has always behaved honestly.”
CALCIOPOLI FLASHBACKS BUT NO CLUBS NAMED YET
This has been compared to the massive Calciopoli scandal of 2006, where intercepted phone calls exposed attempts to influence referee appointments. Juventus was relegated and stripped of two league titles back then.
So far, no clubs have been implicated in the current case. But the government is alarmed.
Italy’s sports minister Andrea Abodi took the Italian football federation to task, noting that a formal complaint about the Udinese Parma incident was submitted but quickly closed without disciplinary action.
“The most serious issue that emerges is how this complaint was handled within the football system,” Abodi said.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Prosecutors in Milan are continuing to gather evidence. Rocchi appears on Friday.
The PGMOL in England has had its own VAR nightmares under Howard Webb, errors, apologies, inconsistency. But that’s been about incompetence, not deliberate interference.
This? This is about fraud. And potentially, the integrity of the entire system.
Italy’s football federation could reopen disciplinary proceedings if new evidence emerges. But their earlier review found no sporting breach had occurred.
Either way, the knock on that VAR door has echoed far beyond Lissone. Italian football is holding its breath. Again.
