Italian soccer club investigated for alleged “system of mafia-style influence”

Prosecutors in Italy have placed a second-tier soccer club into judicial administration due to alleged links to organized crime groups.

Founded in 1907, S.S. Juve Stabia of Serie B are based in the southwestern Campania region of Italy. On Tuesday a joint press conference between prosecutors, police and the national anti-mafia force revealed some of the findings of an investigation into the team, outlining links to the Camorra group.

National anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Melillo claimed to have “uncovered a system of mafia-style influence over the economic activities of the football club” by the Camorra’s D’Alessandro clan. He added that the group had taken control of ticketing, catering, cleaning, healthcare and travel for the club.

Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri added: “It is obvious that they [the Camorra] were present in all areas, from the movement of the team by bus, from the ambulances, the sales of the drinks, the sale of tickets and the controls, to the security inside the stadium.”

“It was a complete 360-degree package. The players only had to play, the Camorra took care of the rest.”

In a statement posted on the team website, Juve Stabia acknowledged “the ‘preventive’ intervention of two judicial administrators tasked with neutralising the risk of criminal infiltration”. However the release claimed that the Camorra influence had only extended to “external service providers” and that the club’s executive structure had not been linked in the investigation.

Tuesday’s bombshell comes just one month after similar steps were taken against third division team Crotone, who were found to have inks to the ‘Ndranghete Mafia in southern Calabria. Crotone played in Italy’s top flight as recently as 2021 and they now enter a one-year period of judicial administration.

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