News Focus
- New investigation into the Italian Referees’ Association (AIA) over claims of a ‘plan’ to fix final rankings.
- Allegations that evaluation judges were changed at the last minute to influence match scores.
- Referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi given a low mark of 8.40 for Lazio-Pisa, dropping her from the top 25.
- Fabrizio Dionisi loses his position as a result, while Antonio Rapuano remains in the elite referees’ list.
- Scandal follows the recent resignation of former AIA chief Gianluca Rocchi over similar favouritism claims.
The Italian Referees’ Association (AIA) is facing fresh trouble. A new investigation has opened into claims that officials created a secret ‘plan’ to change referee rankings during the final round of the 2025-26 season.
Investigators say some officials worked together to push certain referees out of the top list. This happened even though those referees performed well in their final matches on the pitch.
This problem comes just after the last AIA boss, Gianluca Rocchi, stepped down. People had accused him of giving high marks to referees he liked and low marks to others he did not favour. Now, people are making the same claims against the new chief, Dino Tommasi.
Critics say the judges who were supposed to check the referees were suddenly changed. Nobody gave a clear reason for this swap.
These new judges gave Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi a very low score. She received only 8.40 for her handling of the Lazio-Pisa clash. Because of this mark, she dropped out of the top 25 referees.
This created a chain reaction. Fabrizio Dionisi lost his place on the referees’ list completely. However, Antonio Rapuano kept his spot in the elite group.
At the end of every season, the AIA must release five referees. If a referee has worked for more than ten years, they must finish inside the top 25 to keep their job.
This season, three referees left because of age limits. They are Marco Abisso, Gianluca Piccinini, and Luigi Pezzuto. They joined Massimi and Dionisi on the exit list.
However, the complaint suggests the numbers do not add up. If Ferrieri Caputi had received a fair mark for her error-free performance at Lazio, she would have placed 25th. This would have meant Rapuano lost his job instead of Dionisi.
Alfonsi, who filed the complaint, said the way Dionisi lost his job raises serious questions. He stated that the 8.40 score was the only reason Dionisi had to leave. He called Dionisi the “indirect victim of this plan.”
Alfonsi added that all members saw what he called an “irrefutable injustice.” He claims the low mark was ordered by senior bosses. He said this is clear because Ferrieri Caputi made no mistakes during the match.