Sports

Italy’s soccer association FIGC probed over amateur youth tournaments

cde.news desk 24 May 2023, 11:30 · 1 min read

epa06331690 A journalist in front of the headquarters of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in Rome, Italy, 15 November 2017. Gian Piero Ventura have been sacked as Italian national soccer team head coach after Italy failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1958, media reports claimed on 15 November 2017. EPA-EFE/ANGELO CARCONI

ROME, May 24 (Reuters) – The Italian soccer association (FIGC) is facing an investigation by the country’s antitrust authority in a dispute over the running of youth tournaments, the authority said on Wednesday.

The FIGC is accused of restricting the rights of other sporting groups to organise competitions for youth players and the dispute has its origins in a row over a tournament in the southern region of Campania in the 2021-22 season.

Officials from the antitrust authority visited FIGC offices on Wednesday as part of their search for documents.

Such inquiries can result in a fine or other remedies such as changes to the way a group operates. The antitrust agency is more normally focused on commercial activities.

The FIGC had no immediate comment on the issue.