Three-time Italian soccer player Armando Izzo (31) has been sentenced to five years in prison.
The defender of Premier League club AC Monza has been found guilty of helping Neapolitan mafia group Camorra in a match-fixing match. Izzo can appeal the verdict, which is not yet final under the Italian legal system.
Izzo is said to have been involved with two other players in arranging the Serie B game between FC Modena and his then-club US Avellino in the 2013/14 season. Izzo did not play in his side’s 1-0 defeat but is said to have accepted money beforehand to influence the result.
His cousin Umberto Accurso, suspected member of a Camorra clan from Secondigliano, Neapolitan, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, as was another suspected member of the same group.
AC Monza, owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said they were “completely convinced” of the player’s innocence. Izzo has made 26 appearances for newly promoted Monza this season and helped the club survive early on.
In April 2017, Izzo had already been banned from football for 18 months and fined 50,000 euros ($59,000) for failing to report match-fixing during his time at Avellino. The sentence was later reduced to six months. In 2019, Izzo came to three senior internationals for Italy.