Gianluca Rocchi, the man responsible for assigning referees across Serie A and Serie B, is under criminal investigation for "participation in sports fraud." The allegation: that he physically intervened to influence VAR decisions and steered referee assignments toward clubs with preferences. Italian football has a word for this kind of thing. It's called Calciopoli. And they've been here before.
Rocchi confirmed the investigation himself on Saturday. "This morning I received a notice of investigation. I am sure I have always acted correctly and I have full confidence in the judiciary," he said in a statement to ANSA. That's the standard line. What the investigators are describing is anything but standard.
What Rocchi is actually accused of
According to reports, the most striking allegation is physical: Rocchi allegedly left his position at the Lissone VAR center — the centralised hub where video review decisions are routed — and repeatedly knocked on the glass door of the VAR booth to pressure officials mid-review. One incident in particular is under the microscope.
On March 1, 2025, during Udinese vs. Parma, VAR official Daniele Paterna was reviewing a potential handball in Parma's penalty area. He initially appeared ready to wave it off — "Look at the position of the arm, it seems on the body," he said. Then he looked behind him. Then the decision changed. Udinese got the penalty. Udinese won 1-0. Whether that result now carries an asterisk is exactly what prosecutors in Milan are trying to determine.
The investigation, led by Milan Prosecutor Maurizio Ascione, covers primarily the 2024-25 season — the season Napoli won the Scudetto on the final matchday. The timing matters. If referee assignments and VAR calls were being manipulated through the season, no result is above suspicion, and that cloud hangs over every club in the table.
Also under scrutiny: a 2023-24 incident involving Alessandro Bastoni, where VAR official Luigi Nasca was demoted after failing to flag a foul in a goal's build-up. Sporting justice had already archived the case. Civil courts have now reopened it.
This started with a letter nobody answered
The investigation traces back to a complaint letter sent in May 2025 by former referee assistant Domenico Rocca to the Italian Referees Association (AIA). Rocca raised concerns about systemic issues within the Italian referee structure. The complaint, apparently, went nowhere inside football's own system — which is precisely what's now drawing political heat.
Italian sports minister Andrea Abodi put it plainly: "The most serious issue that emerges is how this complaint was handled within the football system. So far, there has been no public response, nor do we know who received the complaint or which body was tasked with verifying its validity."
That's a damning indictment of self-governance. A whistleblower raised the alarm. The system absorbed it silently. It took a criminal investigation to surface what insiders apparently already knew.
No clubs have commented. The Italian FA's president Gabriele Gravina has already stepped down — for separate reasons, following the national team's elimination in the World Cup playoffs — leaving the governing body without its figurehead at the worst possible moment. Referee assignment odds, VAR credibility, and the integrity of last season's title race are all now live questions with no clear answers yet.
Italy has been through this before. Juventus were stripped of two titles and relegated to Serie B when Calciopoli broke in 2006. That scandal was about clubs selecting referees. This one allegedly puts the selector himself at the centre of the fix.
