The last few days, this was the main topic in every basketball gym in Italy – at least the ones I have been to lately: “Criminal investigation on about 50 basketball contracts in the first and second league in Italy”. As I experienced it is “normal” to pay players in lower division “under the table” here in Italy, maybe in some other European countries too. But would you also have expected that from A1 and A2 teams? What happened? It is the word that club such as Naples, Reggio Emilia, Scafati, Avellino, Imola and Rieti, just to name a few, signed two contracts with their players. Yes, you can already imagine what the reason is – trying to save money on taxes – which the financial department really doesn’t like – even in Italy. The clubs made “private agreements” which promise the players sometimes as much as double of the amount the official contract says.
I have heard that the police visited a few clubs as well as the head quarters of the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) to take about 50 contracts with them.
Sounds pretty serious to us right? We will keep you updated on this one.
