Serie B club
©IMAGO
The Italian second division team SS Juve Stabia has been placed under receivership because of suspected mafia involvement. The authorities said a “system of mafia-like influence on the club’s economic activities” was uncovered during investigations. Juve Stabia is based in the town of Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, where the Camorra mafia organization originated.
“The players just had to play, the Camorra took care of the rest,” Italian media quoted the responsible public prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri, as saying. “The travel of the team, the security, the food, the management of the tickets: everything was in the hands of the Camorra,” Gratteri continued.
Similar cases cannot be ruled out at other clubs
Two Camorra clans in particular are said to have had a hand in it: those of the D’Alessandro and Imparato families. Prosecutor Giovanni Melillo spoke of a “worrying overall picture”. He assumes that similar cases will be uncovered at other clubs in the future – and “not just in regions where the mafia is traditionally anchored, and not just in football.”
The receivership measures stipulate that the club will be allowed to continue its sporting activities, but will be placed under the supervision of a team of professionals. However, the prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, did not rule out that Juve Stabia’s next home games would be postponed. This means that next Wednesday’s game against Bari is in jeopardy, as is the game against Palermo on November 8th.
Juve Stabia, where former Italian international Ignazio Abate has been coach since the summer, is currently in seventh place in the promotion playoffs in Serie B. The team got 13 points from eight games. The Wasps were promoted back to the second division in 2024 after four years and immediately reached the Serie A playoffs in the previous season. There the club failed in the semi-finals against eventual newcomers US Cremonese.