https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...esse-lo-streaming-e-le-mani-sulle-curve/deflated balls
Football, the sport loved by the 'ndrangheta. Betting, streaming and hands on the Curves
From match-fixing stories to “pezzotto” dealers: the information “wild west” is worth 300 million every year
Published: 08/09/2024 – 10:00
COSENZA Franco Pino was not a fan, but when he was at the top of the Cosenza 'ndrangheta he was allegedly involved in fixing some Cosenza Calcio matches . The circumstance, which emerged in the past, wants the former boss (now repentant) to have intervened to fix the result of two matches : Cosenza-Avellino in 1990 and Cosenza-Pescara in 1994. « The Piromallis evidently had interests in this sense, they asked me to intervene to fix the result ». The alleged intervention of the underworld was however excluded by both parties , both the Cosenza club (at the time of the facts led by Bonaventura Lamacchia) and Pescara were quick to dismantle any hypothesis of "buying and selling the result", underlining the legality of the result and the match. Years later, the episode ended up in the papers of the " Reset " investigation, coordinated by the Catanzaro DDA.
The mafia and the most loved sport by Italians
The circumstance certifies the obvious interest of the mafia, in this case the Cosenza one, in football and the businesses connected to the sport most loved by Italians. Betting, bararinaggio, merchandising, no "service" capable of generating easy and large profits escapes the mafia's tentacles. And there is no doubt that the recent news stories have turned the spotlight back on a relationship that has been at the center of anti-mafia investigations for years. The murder of Antonio Bellocco by Andrea Beretta is a crime that involves two top exponents of Inter's Curva Nord. Bellocco is a scion of the 'ndrangheta clan of the same name, and at the origin of the clash - as Paride Leporace writes in Corriere della Calabria - there would be money coming from ultra material sold to kids from all over Italy, the management of parking lots and the drug market that in Milan has transformed stadium gangs into criminal organizations.
'Ndrangheta and pirates
Sports and especially football live on events, those filmed by the cameras of pay TV giants. Every year, they compete for millions for the rights to broadcast league and cup matches exclusively (or almost) on their respective channels. For years, the Serie A League has declared war on computer pirates and “ pezzotto ” dealers: the system capable of bypassing pay TV subscriptions and guaranteeing “low cost” packages of sporting events. Needless to say, the 'ndrangheta has gotten wind of the deal, also focusing on illegal streaming. The League's CEO, Luigi De Siervo , has raised (in recent days) yet another alarm: « Behind the pirates is the Camorra, the 'ndrangheta , there is the information Wild West that reigns and outside Italy there are at least 300 million euros that every year end up in the pockets of organised crime and not football clubs».
