The son of Italy coach Marcello Lippi is being investigated by magistrates looking into the sports management agency he worked for.
The GEA World agency, which is headed by Alessandro Moggi, the son of former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, is being investigated over allegations that it employed “illegal competition with use of threats and violence”.
The firm has more than 200 players and coaches on its books. Luciano Moggi is at the centre of the match-fixing controversy that has engulfed Italian football in recent weeks.
Magistrates are also investigating Giuseppe De Mita, the son of former Italian prime minister Ciriaco De Mita, and two others.
Italy coach Lippi has faced calls to resign before the World Cup in Germany amid allegations he was forced by Moggi to pick certain players for the national side.
Lippi has denied any wrongdoing and has received the full backing of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
Giancarlo Abete, who is vice-president of the FIGC, said the decision by magistrates to investigate Lippi’s son did not affect Lippi’s position.
“We are in a situation in which a storm is going on, in the sense that there is a situation that gets filled with new elements day after day,” Abete told Italy’s AGI news agency.
Italy and Juventus defender Gianluca Zambrotta said he did not believe the investigation of Lippi’s son would adversely affect Lippi in the run-up to next month’s finals.
“The Lippi I see is calm and has the same desire as the players – to reach our objective and do the work we need to do in order to go all the way at the World Cup,” Zambrotta said.
