Serie A giants Inter and AC Milan
will request to be admitted as civil plaintiffs in the criminal
trials of leaders of the two clubs' hardcore 'ultra' fans over
alleged violence, intimidation and other criminal activities,
judicial sources said on Thursday.
Two trials will start shortly in relation to a big investigation
into the clubs' ultras by State and finance police that led to
19 arrests on September 30 - one is an immediate trial without
any preliminary hearings while the other is a fast-track trial.
Three of the defendants will go on trial on February 20 while 16
others will go before a preliminary hearings judge (GUP) on
March 4.
The suspects include Inter ultra chiefs Marco Ferdico and Andrea
Beretta and top Milan ultra Luca Lucci.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi was quizzed in October by
investigators in relation to the case.
His name was among those of officials and players listed in the
case documents over alleged "pressure" they came under and links
with the ultras.
The probe led prosecutors to open a "prevention procedure"
against the two Milanese clubs, requiring them to prove that
they have cut ties with the 'ultra' world, in particular
regarding the management of ticket sales.
According to court papers, the clubs, in particular Inter,
granted illicit concessions in economic activities including
ticket sales, "providing tickets to people who belong to
criminal organizations who then resold them at a huge price
markup".
This also regarded people who were under investigation or had
been convicted for "Mafia-Style criminal association who
transferred the money to the Mafia family they belonged to",
according to the papers.
Investigators referred to the stable relationship between the We
Are Milano group headed by Beretta and the club, as well as the
regular access to the stadium of clan members who did not have a
ticket after "strong acts of intimidation" against stewards, "a
situation that had been going on for years".
The measure also cited as an example a "meeting" between some
ultra leaders like Ferdico with former Inter defender Milan
Skriniar and "contacts with coach" Inzaghi.
In particular Ferdico "explicitly asked Inzaghi to intervene
with the club, or directly with (Giuseppe) Marotta", Inter's
president, "to obtain an additional 200 tickets" for the 2023
Champions League final in Istanbul, according to wiretapped
conversations from May 2023 that were included in the arrest
warrants.
Ferdico was allegedly promised by Inzaghi that he would talk to
the club's heads, including Marotta, according to investigators.
The probe allegedly highlighted that Inter was in a "situation
of subjugation towards members of the Curva Nord" football fan
group, and ended up "granting them favours, even though it was
forced to do so".
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