Football

Referee investigation, Gravina defends the FIGC from receivership

Awaiting developments in the investigations, the debate in the political world over the possibility of commissioning the Football Association is heating up

by Marco Bellinazzo

27 April 2026

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office into the Rocchi case, which exploded on Saturday 25 April in the midst of the worst crisis in Italian football, after Italia's third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup, is igniting the debate on the hypothesis of placing the FIGC under commission.

The debate on the commissioner

On the afternoon of Monday 27 April, during a federal council meeting at which Ezio Simonelli, president of the Lega Serie A, Beppe Marotta, president of Inter Milan and federal councillor, and Umberto Calcagno, number one of the Assocalciatori, were remotely connected, Gabriele Gravina, the resigning president of the FIGC, denounced the risks that the commissioner would violate the principle of autonomy of sport 'sanctioned and protected' by the IOC, FIFA and UEFA.

Uefa denied that President Alexander Ceferin had talks with representatives and representatives of Serie A threatening the withdrawal of the organisation of Euro 2032 and the ouster of Italian teams from the European cups in the event of a commissioner. "At the moment we are following the development of the situation regarding the FIGC with the utmost attention and do not intend to make any further comments."

Gravina responded to the lunge that arrived on Sunday 26 April from the League of Minister Matteo Salvini - after the Minister for Sport and Youth Affairs Andrea Abodi had clearly hinted that the hypothesis of a commissioner was back on the government's table - and to the proposal of FdI senator Paolo Marcheschi, whose football reform bill also proposes a commissioner by law of the Federcalcio in the absence of sports results.

Gravina appreciated how all the points for reform that he indicated after his resignation were incorporated in the draft, circulated in recent days in the Senate, but criticised the one point that was 'non-resolutive' and 'in blatant violation' of the autonomy defended by the world sports bodies.

Gravina's denunciation was echoed by the words of Giancarlo Abete, president of the Amateurs and running for elective assembly (the commissioner 'is never the solution') and the president of the coaches, Renzo Ulivieri, for whom this is not the best way to reform.

Also speaking out against the idea of a commissioner was Giuseppe Conte, leader of the M5S: 'The football system must be reformed, but the solution is not for the government to take advantage of this to put a few cronies and occupy this system too. Let sport be sport. The sports world, autonomously, come up with a solution internally. Politics stay out of it'.

At the moment, therefore, any assessment of the extremes for a commission remains within the competence of the Coni of Luciano Buonfiglio, who has reportedly contacted some jurists to verify the boundaries, and therefore the feasibility, of a possible commission. According to the Coni Statute, a commissioner can be appointed if there are four particulars, and the policy would be to rely on 'ascertained serious violations of the sports regulations by the governing bodies'. This hypothesis does not seem to apply since the designator is not chosen by the FIGC and is not part of the federal governing bodies.

Investigation of referees

Awaiting developments in the investigation, which is likely to widen to include other suspects, the AIA has appointed Dino Tommasi as head of the Can (Commissione Arbitri Nazionale di Serie A e B), who will take over the duties of Gianluca Rocchi, who has self-suspended from the post.

Rocchi is accused along with Andrea Gervasoni (both will be heard by the Milan Prosecutor's Office on Thursday 30 April), Var supervisor, of conspiracy to commit sports fraud. The investigation by public prosecutor Maurizio Ascione began in late 2024 and the file also includes a letter of complaint sent to the AIA by former assistant Domenico Rocca, who had reported alleged anomalies in the management of some refereeing cases.

The matches certainly in the crosshairs are five: Bologna-Inter (Serie A, 20 April 2025), Milan-Inter (Coppa Italia, 23 April 2025), Udinese-Parma (Serie A, 1 March 2025) and Inter-Verona (Serie A, 8 January 2024) and a Serie B match. Three charges are alleged in the notice of indictment against Rocchi. During the Coppa Italia semi-final match on 2 April 2025 - in conspiracy with several people at the San Siro stadium - he allegedly 'arranged' the appointment of Andrea Colombo as match director for the Serie A championship match Bologna-Inter as he was considered a 'favoured referee' for the Nerazzurri team, engaged in the fight for the Scudetto. In the same match, he is alleged to have 'ensured' the appointment of the whistle-blower Daniele Doveri for the Coppa Italia semifinal, again to the advantage of the Nerazzurri, while the third indictment refers to Udinese-Parma when - according to the prosecution - Rocchi, as Var supervisor, in complicity with others, 'oriented' the Var official Daniele Paterna to ensure that the match director asked for an on field review and awarded a penalty kick in favour of the Friulians.

Andrea Gervasoni, Var supervisor, is also under investigation for sporting fraud because during the match Salernitana-Modena (8 March 2025) he allegedly put pressure on the Var supervisor Luigi Nasca. Nasca also appears in another episode (together with Rodolfo Di Vuolo), namely in Inter-Verona on 6 January 2024, a match characterised by the alleged elbowing of the Nerazzuro Bastoni at Duda. Paterna, on the other hand, was Var in one of the matches appearing in the notice of guarantee sent to Rocchi: Udinese-Parma. The hypothesis of Domenico Rocca, a former assistant referee who lodged a complaint that is part of the dossier, is that outside the Var room, which is made of glass, Rocchi knocked to get Paterna's attention to change his mind. Paterna was summoned as a witness in the affair, but the report was suspended and he is the only one registered for false information to the prosecutor.

At the moment, however, entries in the register of suspects relating to persons outside the refereeing world and in particular club team managers seem to be excluded.

The Zappi case

In the meantime, on Tuesday 28 April, the hearing of Antonio Zappi, the former AIA president disqualified on 12 December for 13 months by the National Federal Court, a sentence later confirmed by the Court of Appeal, for pressure exerted last summer on the top management of the technical bodies of Serie C and Serie D, is scheduled before the Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport del Coni. The College could accept his appeal and annul everything, ask for a redetermination of the sanction or reject it. In the first case it would go towards the commissioning of the AIA.