Mob infiltration of football 'ultra' fans spreads across Italy

Mafia-linked groups at AC Milan and Inter said to run ticket scams, protection rackets

MILAN - Italian crime bosses and the far right are tapping the muscle and money-spinning activities of hardline "ultra" football fans in several Italian cities, with mobsters even seeking to take control of some smaller clubs, according to Italy's leading anti-mafia prosecutor.

An investigation by Milan prosecutors and the office of the national anti-mafia prosecutor found that ultra groups at Inter and AC Milan, two of the biggest names in Italian football, have allegedly become enmeshed with crime gangs.

Leaders of the ultras, with links to members of Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia, run ticket scams and protection rackets on drink stands and carparks around the city's San Siro stadium, which both clubs share, according to the prosecutors.

Police arrested 19 high-profile members of the clubs' ultras in September as part of an investigation given extra urgency by the killing of Mr Antonio Bellocco, a leading figure in the 'Ndrangheta and a prominent Inter Milan ultra, outside a boxing gym that month.

In a 568-page arrest document, prosecutors traced a direct link between leaders of Inter's "Curva Nord" - the main ultra group at the Italian champions - and the 'Ndrangheta, the country's largest organised crime group.

"Inter as a club is in a subservient position in its dealings with members of the Curva Nord," prosecutors wrote in the document.

Subsequent investigations have linked a leading AC Milan ultra to alleged drug trafficking and the 'Ndrangheta.

Criminal infiltration extends well beyond Milan to a number of other Italian cities, with mobsters seeking to gain sway over fans and clubs at all levels of the professional game, according to documents and interviews with two prosecutors.

Inter and city rivals AC Milan, both owned by US investors, said they are cooperating with the authorities.