Two Maltese officials and former Gudja United and Vittoriosa Stars director general Felice Bellini are being investigated by Police in Italy over match-fixing involving at least twenty-seven matches and thirty teams in the Lega Pro and Serie D.
According to panorama.it, the two Maltese individuals are forty-five year old Robert Farrugia and thirty-three year old Adrian Farrugia. Bellini served as general manager/director general of Gudja United and Vittoriosa Stars and is currently marketing director of Lega Pro side Vigor Lamezia.
Adrian Farrugia has been serving as team-manager of Mosta while Robert Farrugia is the vice-president of Msida St. Joseph.
Meanwhile later in the day, former Vittoriosa Stars coach Arturo Di Napoli was also named as one of the persons being investigated due to his involvment in a match-fixing case involving Savona – the team he coached before moving to Malta to join Vittoriosa.
The investigation named ‘Dirty Soccer’ is being co-ordinated by the Direzione distrettuale antimafia di Catanzaro. A total of seventy-six players and officials are being investigated with regards to match-fixing with links to to the ‘ndragheta.
The investigation was launched following intercepted telephone calls sent and received by Pietro Iannazzo, a key figure at the helm of the ‘ndrangheta in Lamezia Terme. Investigations were carried out in Catanzaro, Cosenza, Reggio Calabria, Bari, Napoli, Milano, Salerno, Avellino, Benevento, L’Aquila, Ascoli Piceno, Monza, Vicenza, Rimini, Forlì, Ravenna, Cesena, Livorno, Pisa, Genova and Savona.
Among the teams involved in these match-fixing cases are Pro Patria, Barletta, Brindisi, L’Aquila, Neapolis Mugnano, Torres, Vigor Lamezia, Sant’Arcangelo, Sorrento, Montalto, Puteolana, Akragas and San Severo.
It seems that this gang has also tried to fix matches from other leagues and sport, apparently without success.