Inter-Milan derby at San Siro, who Rocchi di Doveri spoke to

Let’s start with the confirmations. There are five suspects in the investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office into the referees’ case: four for sports fraud, one for false information reported to the prosecutor. In the first group there are Gianluca Rocchi – chief referee designator – Paolo Gervasoni – VAR supervisor – Luigi Nasca and Rodolfo Di Vuolo, VAR staff. In the second, however, there is only Daniele Paterna. But there could also be others, perhaps not only belonging to the world of arbitration. At the moment, however, this is how it is. A series of questions and inferences can arise from this. The first. If on the register of suspects there are only people from the world of referees, who was Rocchi talking to at San Siro? And above all, what would be the basis for stating that Colombo is “welcome to the Nerazzurri”, while Doveri is “not so”? An answer to the first question, albeit partial, can be found in another confirmation: at the moment there would be no name of any manager of a Serie A or B club. Not even of Inter, who in the notice of guarantee to Rocchi had been called into question as a hypothetical beneficiary.

doubts

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The question marks, of course, remain. Who did Rocchi talk to? And what would he have told him? Difficult to get answers. The charges present in the notice of investigation read “competition in sports fraud with other unidentified persons”. Here too, one can ask whether they have been identified in the meantime or whether they are yet to be identified. So, could other suspects emerge? Only the developments of the investigation will tell us.

What Rocchi could do

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Let’s go back, however, to San Siro: 2 April 2025. The Coppa Italia derby between Inter and Milan is played. Here, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, Rocchi would have “combined” or “shielded” the designation of the referee Daniele Doveri as director of the subsequent Cup semi-final, in order to then ensure that Inter had different direction of the match from the “unwelcome” Doveri for the eventual Italian Cup final and for the rest of the Serie A championship matches which were of “greater interest for the Milanese team”.

the areas of San Siro

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However, it remains to be understood who he talked to about it and in what terms. However, it is possible to know in which areas of the stadium Rocchi could have been. The designator, as head of the referees and observers, could in fact go to specific areas of the San Siro. He could have gone to the triad, both at the beginning and at the end of the match, in the hospitality and in the authority stands, and then watched the match in specific and assigned seats. Furthermore, he could have gone down to the changing room area: it is not a practice, but it can happen, and according to the law he would have had the right to do so.

further developments

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The developments of the investigations will probably help us to color the gray areas and answer the various question marks. To date, it can therefore be hypothesized that – at a time when the investigation was already underway – Rocchi at San Siro spoke with another referee or with a person close to the refereeing world, trying to guide a designation. The next steps will clarify a little more, merging the boxes. Perhaps already starting from Thursday 30th, the day on which Rocchi and Gervasoni were called to appear. Then, it will be the others’ turn. Who knows if they will move some dominoes.