The investigation into referees and VAR that saw designator Gianluca Rocchi accused of sporting fraud looks like it will be shelved due to a lack of evidence.
The scandal erupted on April 25 when Rocchi was placed under formal investigation for participation in sports fraud by Milan Prosecutor Maurizio Ascione.
It was focused primarily on incidents in the 2024-25 season, including the decision to assign some referees rather than others who were ‘not appreciated’ by certain clubs.
Another accusation was that Rocchi knocked on the glass window of the VAR booth at the centre in Lissone, near Milan, to in real time influence the decisions of the officials.
Referee investigation fizzles out
However, after months of interviews, it is reported that the case has provided insufficient evidence to proceed further, and will most likely be shelved.
La Gazzetta dello Sport note that Rocchi had initially used his rights not to answer questions, but when called in again a few days ago, he did speak to investigators for four hours.
As a result, the charges have changed, removing the accusation of the knocks on the VAR booth window, which would’ve been a violation of the protocol.
What remains is the suggestion that Rocchi avoided assigning certain referees because Inter ‘did not appreciate’ their performances, and preferred other candidates.
This continued into the 2025-26 season, assigning Maurizio Mariani to a Torino-Inter match in April 2026 because the Scudetto was already locked down.
Rocchi had also assigned Gianluca Manganiello to Inter-Verona in May 2025 because the club was not fond of the alternative, Simone Sozza.
The problem here is that the phone calls were not with representatives of Inter, but with other figures within the refereeing world who expressed Inter’s concerns with those officials.
If there was no direct collusion with the club, then it becomes difficult to go further, especially as neither Inter, nor any of their representatives were under investigation.
