Zappi case, the FIGC would have decided to place the AIA under commissionership: the reconstruction after the president’s 13-month ban
Italian football wakes up to shocking news that shakes the foundations of the refereeing system. The Federal Council of FIGCcalled urgently this morning, resolved on administration of the AIA. The decision, anticipated by Football and Financeis the direct consequence of the inhibition of 13 months inflicted on the president Antonio Zappi.
The Federation has chosen the hard line, intervening quickly to guarantee the credibility of the sector in a very delicate moment, effectively eliminating the top management of the association.
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The accusations: pressure for the technical “turnaround”.
The earthquake was based on the sentence issued last January 12 by the National Federal Court. Zappi was condemned for behavior deemed “pressuring and incorrect” towards the leaders of the technical bodies of the minor leagues. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the number one referee would have exerted undue pressure to force his resignation Maurizio Ciampi e Luca Pizziat the time responsible for the designations for Serie C and Serie D respectively. The objective of this political maneuver was clear: to free up the seats to install two high-profile figures, namely Daniele Orsato e Stefano Braschithus redesigning the geography of arbitral power.
The legal issue: the FIGC does not wait
The decision of the Federal Council it also hides a relevant procedural aspect. Regulations in hand, Zappi could technically have held the position until the final judgment (the second level of judgment), necessary to trigger the formal forfeiture. However, faced with a sentence in first instance exceeding 12 months and the seriousness of the charges, the FIGC has decided not to wait. The governance of Italian football considered the permanence of an inhibited president and under accusation for palace maneuvers unsustainable, opting for immediate commissionership. The AIA turns the page in the most traumatic way possible: now we are waiting for the name of the Commissioner who will have to ferry the referees out of the storm.
