Quick guide to try to understand what is happening around Serie A and the world of refereeing. The names of the protagonists that emerge from the documents of the Milan Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office into the Italian arbitration system is a novel of which only a few pages, not even chapters, are known at the moment. The publication of the notice of investigation against the designator Gianluca Rocchi, who was then self-suspended from his position, has lifted the veil on an investigation which appears to have started more than a year before 25 April 2026. Not, therefore, the reaction to the presentation of the letter exposed by the former referee assistant Domenico Rocca, dated May 2025, but previous and grafted onto documents or testimonies which for now remain covered.
It is useful, however, to try to follow the trail of the prosecutor’s work Maurizio Ascione as a compass to orient ourselves and try to understand what could happen both at a criminal level and, in the immediate future, for sports justice. It should be remembered that the sports justice system is autonomous from the ordinary one and moves according to very different, rapid rules and timescales and with a substantial reversal of the burden of proof.
All the protagonists of the Milan prosecutor’s investigation into referees
Here is the list of characters who are entering the pages of the investigation into the arbitration system. For everyone, until the details are revealed, there is some margin for interpretation because the names emerge and it is necessary to reconstruct the role and also the current position within the puzzle that is composing the Ascione prosecutor:
Gianluca Rocchi
Designator of Serie A and Serie B in the seasons from 2021 to the moment of self-suspension on 25 April 2026 following receipt of the notice of guarantee with invitation to appear for questioning. The alleged crime that concerns him is concurrent sports fraud and refers, as contained in the notice, to three charges: the interference in Sala Var on the occasion of the awarding of a penalty kick in Udinese-Parma (1 March 2025) and the agreement to guarantee Inter welcome referees at the end of the 2025/2026 season: the appointment of Colombo for Bologna-Inter (20 April 2025) and that of Doveri for the second leg semi-final of the Italian Cup against Milan (23 April 2025) so as not to make it possible for him to be called up for the eventual final as Doveri, according to the prosecutor, is an unwelcome referee for the Nerazzurri club.
These two charges refer to a meeting that Rocchi had during the semi-final first leg of the Milan-Inter Italian Cup played at San Siro on 2 April 2025. The episode is detailed in that venue and at that time.
Andrea Gervasoni
Until 25 April 2026, VAR supervisor for Serie A, Rocchi’s trusted man in the referee commission. He is under investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office for the alleged crime of sports fraud in collaboration with other people. In his case, the prosecutor contests an alleged interference in the VAR room during the Serie B Salernitana-Modena match (8 March 2025): a “knock” to make the VAR Nasca and the aVar Paterna change their decision not to intervene during a penalty kick episode not correctly assessed on the pitch by the referee Giua.
Daniele Paterna
Varista referee present in the Var Room as main Var on the occasion of Udinese-Parma (1 March 2025), a match in which according to the prosecutor Ascione Rocchi would have interfered with the refereeing activity, signaling the need to send referee Maresca to the OFR (on field review) to grant a penalty in favor of Udinese. He is under investigation for false information provided to the public prosecutor during an interview held in recent months, which began with a simple person informed of the facts and ended with his registration in the register of suspects. He denied Rocchi’s interference.
Luigi Nasca
Referee and VAR officer, present in the VAR room in Lissone on two occasions which are part of the investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office. It was Var on 8 March 2025 for Salernitana-Modena, a match in which Gervasoni was accused of allegedly interfering to award a penalty kick lost on the pitch, and it was also there for Inter-Verona on 6 January 2024. It was the match that ended up in the sights of the Milan Prosecutor’s Office due to the complaint of a Verona fan lawyer. The match had been at the center of furious controversy due to a foul not called on Bastoni in the action of Frattesi’s 2-1 goal: Rocchi and the AIA had publicly admitted the error.
Rodolfo Di Vuolo
Varista referee with dozens of appearances in the Var room for Serie A and Serie B matches. According to the newspaper Repubblica, he was heard in recent months by the Milan prosecutor’s office because he was carrying out the functions of aVar (VAR assistant) on 6 January 2024 on the occasion of the Inter-Verona match which ended up under investigation due to the controversy following the failure to annul Inter’s winning goal, spoiled by a foul by Bastoni on Duda from Verona.
