ROME — Italian soccer was in disarray after 19 people, including Lazio captain Stefano Mauri, were dramatically arrested early Monday by police investigating illegal betting.
The Italian national team’s training base near Florence was even targeted in the stunning dawn raids, less than two weeks before Euro 2012, with defender Domenico Criscito’s room searched, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
The home of former international Antonio Conte, the head coach of newly-crowned Italian league champion Juventus, was among 30 searched by officers probing claims that players and officials fixed games for an international betting ring.
Mauri, 32, was the standout name among 10 current and former professional players held following the raids. A total of 30 homes belonging to players, coaches and administrators of clubs in the country’s top two divisions were searched.
The morning raid on the national team base came barely hours before coach Cesare Prandelli was due to announce his final 23-man squad for the European Championships, which kick off June 8 in Poland and Ukraine.
Italy was scheduled to play Luxembourg on Tuesday in a warm-up for the tournament.
Monday’s raids were part of a long-standing investigation into corruption in Italian soccer, dubbed “Calcioscommesse,” that already saw 17 players, including former Italy internationals Cristiano Doni and Giuseppe Signori, banned from the sport and Serie A side Atalanta hit with a points deduction.
