The first names of footballers and sportsmen, leaked to the Italian press, are beginning to emerge from the scandal dismantled by the Italian Guardia di Finanza, which recently ended with a network accused of exploiting prostitution and managing events linked to nightlife that would have served high-level footballers, including those from Serie A, with the use of ‘laughing gas’ as a recreational substance.
There are former stars such as Dejan Stankovic and young players such as Daniel Maldini. Alongside them, there is a long list of footballers, both famous and unknown, who appear in calls, requests or simply mentioned, so their real involvement is still unknown. In the first arrest warrant sent to the two suspects and a couple of their collaborators for pre-trial detention, the names of the “clients” were omitted for obvious reasons: paid sex is not a crime, so they are not being investigated.
More than 60 footballers (including an F1 driver and hockey players) have been identified as the “clientele”. Inter and Milan take the lion’s share: the keywords Bastoni, Bellanova, Blisseck, Hakimi, Coutinho, Skriniar and Carlos Augusto seem to refer to players who currently or have recently worn the Nerazzurri shirt. On the other hand, the names De Winter, Leao, Giroud and Menez evoke AC Milan players. But according to the investigators’ reconstruction, this network was also a meeting point for players from other teams who were in Milan and took advantage of the services offered: some legitimate, such as private rooms in clubs or the presence of escort girls. Others, not so much.
For an Arsenal and international player, it evokes the keyword “Calafiori”. For Juventus players, it evokes the words Hisen (Huijsen?), Vlahovic and Arthur Melo, and also, less unequivocally, “Alvaro” (Morata?). Also teams such as Monza, Milan, Lazio, Como and Verona. Searches for “Scamacca” and “Ruggeri” point to Atalanta, while Lazio also have Nuno Tavares in their sights, as well as Maldini. At the moment, it is impossible to know whether any of them succumbed to the sellers’ insinuations.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, during these nights, the girls who worked for the agency were invited to have sex in exchange for money with the clients, selected mainly from professional footballers. The network kept at least 50% of the amount paid, handing the rest to the girls. The documents reveal that they did not receive payment directly from the client, but from the organisers: allegedly, the girls received envelopes with cash according to the services provided and the amount earned.
One of them said: “I kept 10% of the table of that footballer who spent three thousand, and the same with the hockey players”. It is alleged that on these nights more than 100 girls (some very young), both Italian and foreign, took part, some of whom also worked as escorts. In other cases, they were employed as models, hostesses or table companions.
“Unfortunately it is not a crime, it is not classified as such. The girls were totally compliant, so there is no violence; no evidence of violence has emerged in the acts of the investigation,” said the Guardia di Finanza.
