Refereeing controversy: Five people are currently under investigation, but there are more. Prosecutor's sources say "Inter and their management are not involved."

There are currently five known suspects in the Milan investigation into the refereeing system—those whose names are known—but it's been learned that there are more people under investigation , especially since some allegations of sports fraud are being contested in collusion with "multiple individuals. " However, "Inter and its executives are not under investigation," according to qualified sources at the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, where there's a tense atmosphere that appears to be linked to the prosecutor's handling of the investigation with respect to the office's top brass.

No formal communication has been released regarding this matter. In fact, since April 25, the day the summonses to appear were received by Rocchi and Gervasoni, there has been no official statement.

The five known suspects are referee designator Gianluca Rocchi, VAR supervisor Andrea Gervasoni, and referees Luigi Nasca, Daniele Paterna, and Rodolfo Di Vuolo . Nasca and Di Vuolo were VAR and AVAR officials, respectively, for Inter vs. Verona on January 6, 2024, the match in the Bastoni-Duda case , when a decisive Inter goal was validated despite a clear elbow from the Nerazzurri defender against the Veneto midfielder.

From what has been learned, this is a single investigative file that may have been formed following the complaint filed in 2024 by a lawyer and Verona fan after Inter Milan's match against Verona. The investigation also included the complaint of former Serie A linesman Domenico Rocca, who was heard as a witness by the prosecutor last July.

The accusations

All are under investigation for sports fraud, with Paterna alone being accused of providing false information to prosecutors.

Specifically, Rocchi is charged with sporting fraud on three counts: in addition to the well-known case of alleged influence with "knocking" on the VAR room for Udinese-Parma on March 1, 2025, he is accused of favoring Inter with a refereeing assignment for an away match in Bologna on April 20, 2025, and of having arranged for Daniele Doveri, "unpopular with the Nerazzurri," according to the prosecutor, to not referee them in the final phase of the league season and the possible Coppa Italia final. These last two charges allege an alleged agreement by Rocchi at the San Siro stadium "with multiple people" on April 2, 2025.

Gervasoni, however, is under investigation for the Salernitana-Modena match of March 8, 2025, for a penalty initially awarded to the Emilian side and then revoked following an intervention by the VAR room.

Paterna was summoned as a witness by the prosecutors for the Udinese-Parma affair, but the record was suspended and he was entered in the register for providing false information to the prosecutor.

Di Vuolo was registered because he was the VAR assistant in the Inter-Verona match, a match in which Luigi Nasca was also the "VAR assistant", who was also the same in Salernitana-Modena.

But the prosecutors could uncover other documents in the coming days.

The code to communicate with the VAR room

Furthermore, according to what has emerged from some stories and journalistic investigations, there was a code "known to everyone in the environment" that Rocchi and Gervasoni would have used to communicate with the VAR officials and correct their decisions .

These were gestures from the windows, including the "rock-paper-scissors" gesture. A practice that, if proven, would be a clear violation of VAR protocol.

(Unioneonline/L)