Sep 28 2008
Cosa Nostra’s Hands On VIP Tickets And Youth Talents
According to daily La Repubblica, Mafia Capos and picciottis (soldiers) were regularly allocated at least 100 VIP tickets to sit at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.
Pentiti – those who were formerly part of the “family” and have now repented – have disclosed all the details behind this established system.
“The Sopranos” meet the football world and we have learned all about the sleazy techniques of New Jersey boss Anthony “Tony” Soprano and his crew in the mega-hit tv series created by David Chase.
The DiMeo crime family also liked their football, the American kind though, what with loony druggie Christopher Moltisanti running illegal betting shops and Tony himself becoming obsessed with sports gambling in the final season.
But back in the “Old Country”, and in the real world, Cosa Nostra (Our Thing) had set the bar higher and was prepared to fully infiltrate the Palermo football club.
After all, the Rosanero have become hot property in recent years: after languishing in the lower leagues for several years, they finally returned to Serie A in 2004 and have established themselves as one of the top sides.
Under these circumstances, president Maurizio Zamparini’s club might have looked like the Holy Grail to criminal organizations that plague this wonderful island.
According to Palermo’s prosecutors, the Lo Piccolo clan, headed by Salvatore and his son Sandro, were hot on Zamparini’s heels to get a cut of the Rosanero’s business affairs, and it has emerged that they wanted to “participate” in the project to build a new stadium and an adjacent commercial centre in the Zen quarter of the Sicilian capital.
When met with resistance from then sporting director Rino Foschi, the Mob did not hesitate to employ a method of retaliation that will sound familiar to movie buffs.
Just like film studio boss Jack Woltz was made “an offer he can’t refuse” by Don Vito Corleone in “The Godfather” and woke up to the eery scene of his purebred horse’s bloody severed head in his bed, Foschi was sent the mutilated head of a goat on Christmas Eve, 2006.
Salvatore and Sandro Lo Piccolo – both arrested in November 2007 – had some solid connections inside the fiery patron’s club: Giovanni Pecoraro, close friend of Cosa Nostra Don Salvatore “Totuccio” Milano, and Marcello Trapani, lawyer for the Lo Piccolo’s.
The two men were arrested earlier this week and charged with Mafia association and aggravated extortio, though prosecutors have stressed that Zamparini never backed down in the face of intimidations and the entrepreneur was pleased with the investigation’s outcome.
Honest
“I am happy that has been proved this is an honest club run by good people,” he stated before the Rosanero played in Naples on Wednesday night. “I have heard that a figure [Pecoraro] that we booted out last year, has been apprehended.”
In fact, Pecoraro worked as a representative for the Rosanero youth team, but was dismissed when his name emerged on several pizzini (piece of papers commonly used by the Mob) found in Salvatore Lo Piccolo’s hideout.
But when the dust settled, Pecoraro and Trapani were once again buzzing around all Palermo-related affairs, and they were frequently spotted at the Barbera stadium.
La Repubblica has printed several pictures showing numerous “wise guys” inside the arena: in one of these, boss Salvatore Milano is amicably conversing with Palermo’s Vice President Guglielmo Micciché before the start of a game.
Informers
Antonino Nuccio and Andrea Bonaccorso, former soldiers in the Lo Piccolo clan, are among those who were “flipped” and have become informers for the DDA (Anti-mafia District Department): “San Lorenzo and Resuttana families would get 100 tickets for each home game,” they revealed.
Foschi is not under investigation, but DDA’s prosecutors will reportedly interrogate him over the next few days. Wiretapped phone conversations have also showed that the former sporting director received pressures from Trapani and Pecoraro to introduce a number of youth team players into the first team.
The duo were also football agents for a plethora of Palermo youngsters and planned to quickly increase their market value: Alberto Cossentino and Paolo Carbonaro were indeed represented by Trapani and made their debut in Serie A last season, under Coach Stefano Colantuono.
As if fan violence, stadium bans and poor attendances were not enough, now Calcio presidents have to fend off attacks from mobsters too: while Premier League clubs are taken over by wealthy foreign investors, the Belpaese teams run the risk of falling victim to the organized crime, who tries to spread its voracious tentacles beyond their usual activities and envelop Italians’ favorite toy. A broken toy.
Cosa Nostra’s Hands On VIP Tickets And Youth Talents – Vince Masiello – 28/09/2008 13:15 – This story was found at: http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=885869
