MILAN (AP) 鈥� Milan’s public prosecutor has dismissed the case against former Italian referee designator Gianluca Rocchi and his deputy Andrea Gervasoni for alleged sports fraud.
Rocchi, who was the head of referees in Serie A and Serie B, in April. He was accused of influencing VAR decisions and altering the selection of referees.
However, a statement issued by the Milan Public Prosecutor鈥檚 Office on Wednesday said that it had found 鈥渘o evidence of a structured system aimed at interfering with appointments.鈥�
Rocchi was under investigation for incidents during the 2024-25 season. He allegedly changed the official for an Inter Milan match to one who was more favorable toward the Nerazzurri.
Inter, which finished a point behind Serie A champion Napoli that season, was not implicated.
Rocchi was also alleged to have interfered with VAR protocols during a Serie A match between Udinese and Parma on March 1, 2025, by banging on the window of the VAR booth and recommending that the officials call for an on-field review of a penalty.
The documents relating to that incident have been passed to the Monza Public Prosecutor鈥檚 Office as the site of the VAR Operations room comes under their jurisdiction.
Rocchi immediately stepped down during the investigation and was first replaced by Dino Tommasi and then by Daniele Orsato.
鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to him and he is very pleased; now we will consider our next steps. I鈥檓 meeting him tomorrow to discuss the matter in detail,鈥� said Rocchi鈥檚 lawyer, Antonio D鈥橝virro. 鈥滷ortunately, the situation was resolved quickly, even though the price Rocchi had to pay was steep.
鈥淚 fail to see how those 鈥榢nocks鈥� could constitute sporting fraud; they were intended to correct a serious error the referee was making, certainly not to alter the match result. From a legal standpoint, I do not see how a case for sporting fraud could be established.鈥�
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