Former Msida president arrested in Italian sting on illegal betting

The former president of Msida St Joseph, Robert Farrugia, and his brother Adrian, have been reportedly arrested in an Italian sting on illegal football betting.

Robert Farrugia, 45, and Mosta team manager Adrian Farrugia, 34, were described as “financiers of combined bets”, and were arrested along with 50 others, including Vittoriosa Stars’s Italian head coach Arturo di Napoli and the former Italian director of Gudja United, Felice Bellini.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Malta Football Association president Norman Darmanin Demajo called for “caution” and explained that the association would be getting in touch with police authorities in Malta and Italy to establish the facts and “determine how best to proceed”.

He said anyone involved in local football and found guilty of illegal betting would be immediately banned by the MFA, however he warned against “rushing to conclusions” as such accusations could ruin people’s lives.

“If anything, such investigations expose the extent of corruption in football and serve as a warning to Maltese people dabbling in such illegal activities,” Darmanin Demajo added.   

Bellini, who arrived in Malta in 2013, originally formed part of an initiative to bring Italian players to Qormi United in a collaboration agreement. He then moved to First Division club Vittoriosa Stars as director-general, where his compatriot and former Napoli and Inter striker Arturo di Napoli serves as head coach.

The sting operation, dubbed “Dirty Soccer” by Italian authorities, was described as the umpteenth “earthquake” in Italian football and risks disrupting the ongoing season and the composition of next season’s lower leagues.

Italian daily La Repubblica reported that they formed part of a syndicate of people traditionally beyond suspicion – football players, club presidents and managers, and businessmen from Serbia, Malta, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Italy – who would bet on low-tier games of the Italian Serie D and Lega pro (formerly Serie C), and also second division Serie B games.

They were accused of having delinquent association for sporting fraud, and in some cases having associated with organised crime, particularly southern Italy’s notorious Ndrangheta.

The investigation in fact started from a police interest in Ndrangheta captain Pietro Iannazzo, who staked bets on the Neapolis football club, which eventually led them to the international syndicate.

The Catanzaro special mobile unit stumbled on a multi-million euro network of illegal betting where teams were designated to lose, so that they could reap the most out of football bets.

Investigators suspect 28 matches from the ongoing season were rigged and the suspected financiers being investigated include Serbian, Maltese and Albanian nationals.

Police across Italy rounded up suspects in the early hours – including 27 team presidents and managers, 17 players, five coaches, and one police officer – and raided club offices.

In recent years Italy has been rocked by a series of match-fixing scandals and Mafia groups have increasingly tapped into the country’s legal gambling industry, Europe’s largest, as a way to earn and launder money.

The previous scandal followed the 2010-11 season, when the results of Serie B and third division – Lega Pro – matches were discovered to have been set up.

In the latest scandal, investigators said there were two different criminal gangs, one to set up the games in Lega Pro and the other those in Serie D.

The 28 games investigated by Italian police

LEGA PRO
Pisa-Torres (4 - 0) played 29-10-2014
Juve Stabia-Lupa Roma (2 - 0) played 1-11-2014
Santarcangelo-L'Aquila (0 - 1) played 15-11-2014
Grosseto-Santarcangelo (1 - 0) played 22-11-2014
L'Aquila-Savona (1 - 0) played 23-11-2014
Prato-Santarcangelo (3 - 0) dell'8-10-2014
Cremonese-Pro Patria (3 - 1) played 15-12-2014
Monza-Torres (3 - 0) played 17-12-2014
Bassano-Monza (2 - 1) played 21-12-2014
Torres-Pro Patria (4 - 0) played 11-1 2015
Pro Patria-Pavia (3 - 2) played 17-1-2015
L'Aquila-Tuttocuoio (1 - 0) played 25-3-2015
L'Aquila-Santarcangelo (2 - 1) played 29-3-2015
Barletta-Catanzaro (1 - 1) played 1-4-2015
Aversa Normanna-Barletta (1 - 0) played 12-4-2015
Vigor Lamezia-Paganese (1 - 1) played 13-4-2015
Barletta-Vigor Lamezia (3 - 3) played 19-4-2015

SERIE D
Montalto-Frattese (2 - 4) played 2-11-2014
Due Torri-Neapolis (1 - 0) played 2-11-2015
Neapolis-Akragas (2 - 2) played 9-11-2014
Brindisi-San Severo (2 - 1) played 30-11-2014
Fidelis Andria-Puteolana (7 - 2) played 30-11-2014
Hinterreggio-Neapolis (2 - 0) played 7-9-2014
Sorrento-Montalto (0 - 0) played 12-10-2014
Neapolis-Sorrento (3 - 0) played 13- 11- 2014
Neapolis-Montalto (4 - 0) played 26-10-2014
Monopoli-Puteolana (4 - 0) played 2-11-2014
Pomigliano-Brindisi (0 - 4) played 14-12-2014