Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTwo Lazio ultras were arrested for attempting to secure Olympic contracts through mafia-style methods, linked to the upcoming Winter Games in Cortina.
By Alvise Armellini
ROME (Reuters) -Two brothers from a notorious Italian soccer hooligan group, Lazio's "Irriducibili", have been arrested after trying to illegally obtain public works contracts for next year's Winter Olympics, Italian prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The men, originally from Rome, sought to profit from the Olympics after establishing mafia-style control over drug dealing and nightlife activities in the Alpine resort of Cortina, Venice prosecutors said in a statement.
Cortina, in northern Italy, is co-hosting the February 6-22 Winter Games with Milan.
The arrested men reportedly posed as high-level members of Rome's criminal underworld, vaunting their friendship with the late leader of the "Irriducibili" Fabrizio Piscitelli, who was gunned down in a Rome park in 2019.
"Irriducibili" roughly translates as "diehards".
The alleged gangsters terrorised business rivals in Cortina, prosecutors said, mentioning the case of a nightlife events organiser who was dragged into the woods, beaten up and held at gun point.
A man who owed them drug money was locked up in a car boot and threatened with death, and two "unauthorised" drug dealers were also beaten up.
In 2022, the pair approached a member of Cortina's city government, offering electoral support, which the politician did not accept. They later asked to be given Olympic contracts with a threatening message, prosecutors said.
The brothers, one of whom was put in pre-trial detention while the other is under house arrest, are accused of extortion, aggravated by mafia-style methods. Five more suspects face the same charges, but were not arrested.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editin by Ed Osmond)
Corruption refers to dishonest or unethical behavior by individuals in positions of power, often involving bribery or the misuse of authority for personal gain.
Extortion is the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats. It is considered a criminal offense.
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