Big referee scandal in Italy! Resignations are in the air, Inter are mentioned...

Gianluca Rocchi, the head of the Italian Referees' Association, is being investigated for involvement in sports fraud. According to the report in La Gazzetta dello Sport, the investigation started following a letter of complaint sent by former assistant referee Domenico Rocca to the Italian Referees' Association.

According to the report, Rocchi is facing three separate charges, two of which are related to influencing referee appointments and the other to violating the VAR protocol. The matches in question were Inter's two matches in the Italian Cup last season and the other one was the Udinese-Parma match.

Rocchi was accused of ensuring the appointment of Andrea Colombo for the Bologna-Inter match in the Italian Cup on April 20, 2025, ensuring the appointment of Daniele Doveri, who was seen as one of the unwanted referees by Inter, for the semi-final match between Milan-Inter and preventing him from working in the next critical matches, and directing the referee to award a penalty in favor of Udinese by violating the VAR protocol in the Udinese-Parma match.

Speaking to Italian news agency ANSA following the launch of the investigation, Rocchi said: "Regarding today's incident, I am resigning from my post for the sake of the investigation and the Italian Referees' Association. This painful and difficult decision, which I share with my family, is to ensure that the judicial process goes smoothly and I am sure that I will emerge unscathed and stronger than before."