A fresh inquiry has been launched into the Italian Referees’ Association (AIA), with accusations of “irrefutable injustice” stemming from the alleged sidelining of capable referees during the concluding stages of the 2025-26 season.
This controversy follows a previous scandal involving the former AIA chief, Gianluca Rocchi, who faced accusations of inflating the ratings of favored referees while deliberately downgrading others. Such rankings directly influence the number of high-profile matches assigned to officials and can lead to their exclusion from the professional list.
Rocchi resigned amid the initial investigation, but similar claims of unfair practices are now being directed at his successor, Dino Tommasi.
Continuity of Allegations Under New Leadership
Guido Alfonsi, an AIA representative for the Aquila region, has approached the same investigative body that probed Rocchi, bringing forth allegations of impropriety in the referee evaluations from the final round of the 2025-26 season.
Alfonsi claims that the officials responsible for assessing referees were inexplicably changed at the last moment. He asserts that these new evaluators assigned a significantly low score to referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi for her performance in the Lazio-Pisa match. This decision, according to Alfonsi, unfairly pushed her out of the top 25 ranked referees and consequently led to the removal of Fabrizio Dionisi from the list entirely.
The implication is that this maneuver allowed Antonio Rapuano to retain his position among the league’s elite referees.
Under AIA regulations, five referees are dismissed at the end of each season. Referees who have served for over a decade must remain within the top 25 to continue officiating.
In this instance, three referees (Abisso, Piccinini, and Pezzuto) were removed due to age, along with Massimi and Dionisi. Alfonsi argues that if Ferrieri Caputi had received a more favorable score for the Lazio-Pisa game, she would have secured the 25th spot, and Dionisi would have been replaced by Rapuano instead.
“The circumstances surrounding Dionisi’s dismissal are highly questionable,” Alfonsi stated in his complaint. “The score of 8.40 given to Ferrieri Caputi is the sole factor that could have undeniably led to Federico Dionisi’s removal, making him an indirect casualty of this alleged scheme.
“Many of us witnessed what can only be described, without hesitation, as the culmination of an undeniable injustice. It is evident that the rating of 8.40 awarded to Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi was clearly orchestrated from higher up, especially considering her performance was devoid of any errors.”
