Italian referee chief suspends himself over ‘fraud’ allegations

Former referee Gianluca Rocchi has suspended himself as the chief of Italian referees over a reported investigation into alleged fraud.

Rocchi is in charge of assigning Serie A referees as part of his role.

Getty

However, he is currently under investigation for ‘complicity in sporting fraud’ during the 2024/25 season, reports AGI.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, with Rocchi’s suspension confirmed by the Italian Referees Association (AIA).

The investigation into the allegations has been launched by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the body, the video assistant referee supervisor for the top two tiers in Italy, Andrea Gervasoni, has also suspended himself after being placed under investigation.

Gianluca Rocchi statement

In a statement from the AIA, Rocchi said: “This painful and difficult decision, shared with my family, is intended to allow the judicial process to proceed smoothly, from which I am certain I will emerge unscathed and stronger than before.”

The 52-year-old continued: “My great love for my association and my sense of responsibility for the role I hold lead me, above all, to protect such an important group of athletes, whom I do not want to be affected in any way by my circumstances.

“I await further developments, which I hope will arrive soon to clarify my position.”

Rocchi is alleged to have appointed a referee for an Inter Milan match because the official was described as being ‘liked by Inter’.

A separate game also saw a video assistant referee not intervene when an Inter player elbowed an opponent.

Both incidents are currently under scrutiny as part of the investigation.

AFP

In Italy, sporting fraud is a criminal offence and carries a prison sentence of up to six years.

Rocchi previously served as a Serie A referee for 16 years between 2004 and 2020.

During his career, he also officiated the 2016 Coppa Italia final as well as Chelsea‘s Europa League final win over Arsenal in 2019.

Situation explained

Italian football journalist Daniele Fisichella joined the Trans Europe Express on Sunday to discuss the story live on talkSPORT.

Fisichella explained: “There are a few lines of enquiries that are related to Gianluca Rocchi, the head of refereeing, which he will have to respond to the magistrates as early as this week on the 30th of April.

“At the moment, this is an investigation that the Italian FA is following on from an enquiry from the magistrates in Milan.

Getty

“An investigation that the FA itself had closed last season, but it was reopened a few months ago.

“There are reasons to believe that, aside from the elements that we do know, and the allegations for Gianluca Rocchi at the time being, of having assigned two referees to two Inter matches because one of those referees allegedly was liked by Inter and another one was not liked.

“By assigning the referee (Paolo) Valeri, he would have been outside of the pool of potential referees for upcoming matches in the title race.

“Then there is the famous or infamous incident where Rocchi himself would have knocked on the VAR room during a live match, Udinese vs Parma.

“There are videos showing the VAR and the assistant VAR turning their heads and almost saying to Rocchi, ‘is that a penalty?’ Then asking the referee to go to the on-field decision.

“So these are the allegations and have to be proven that they have compromised and they have obviously made the competition irregular. This is where we stand at the moment.”