MILAN: The leader of a group of hardcore fans of Inter Milan football club on Wednesday stabbed to death a member of an Italian crime gang in what he claimed was self-defense.
Andrea Beretta, 49, head of the “curva nord” (north end) ultras football supporters said he stabbed fellow Inter fan Antonio Bellocco, 36, after he had shot him in the leg with a firearm, his lawyer and Italian media reports said.
Beretta will be questioned in his hospital bed on Wednesday evening by a prosecutor, his lawyer Mirko Perlino told AFP.
The two men had an altercation as they rode together in a car on Wednesday morning outside a sports center in the Milan suburb of Cernusco sul Naviglio.
Perlino told AFP that his client, acting in self-defense, stabbed the victim in the throat.
Beretta, who has been convicted several times for violence and drug dealing, became head of the Inter ultras after their historic leader Vittorio Boiocchi was assassinated in October 2022.
According to press reports, Bellocco is the heir of a powerful ‘Ndrangheta crime family from Calabria, and has been condemned in the past for organized crime activities.
The prosecutor assigned to the case is Paolo Storari, who specializes in organized crime and who has led investigations into Boiocchi’s assassination and into the mafia’s infiltration of hardcore Italian football supporter groups.
Italian football hooligan leader kills mafia heir
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Italian football hooligan leader kills mafia heir
- Andrea Beretta, 49, head of the “curva nord” (north end) ultras football supporters said he stabbed fellow Inter fan Antonio Bellocco, 36, after he had shot him in the leg
- The two men had an altercation as they rode together in a car on Wednesday
Neto treble fires Chelsea’s FA Cup rout of Hull
KINGSTON UPON HULL: Chelsea eased into the FA Cup fifth round as Pedro Neto’s hat-trick inspired a 4-0 win at Hull on Liam Rosenior’s return to the club that sacked him two years ago.
Rosenior’s side took the lead through Neto’s superb first-half strike before the Portugal forward netted again after the break.
Estevao Willian scored Chelsea’s third and Neto completed his treble to wrap up the fourth round rout at the MKM Stadium.
It was an emotional evening for Blues boss Rosenior as he faced the club that ruthlessly severed their long relationship with him in 2024.
Rosenior supported Hull as a child alongside his season-ticket holding grandmother, played for the club across five years and managed them for two seasons.
He was sacked after narrowly failing to reach the Championship play-offs amid criticism of his team’s conservative tactics.
Despite the painful end to his time at Hull, the 41-year-old said it was an “amazing thing” to return to Humberside and he took full advantage of the chance to show his old club what they had missed out on.
“This club means a lot not just to me but also my family for many reasons,” Rosenior said.
“I do hope they make the Premier League this year, but because of our attitude and application, that is what gave us the platform to win tonight.”
Rosenior has made an impressive start at Chelsea since arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca in January, winning eight out of his first 11 matches in all competitions.
He made seven changes, with Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro among those to miss out, but Chelsea were still too strong for the Championship promotion chasers.
“Pedro Neto has been outstanding, he works so hard and has so much quality. I’m delighted to see him get the goals,” Rosenior said.
“The most pleasing aspect was the mentality. It was a really strong performance in terms of the mental application you need to be successful. Everyone worked really hard for each other.”
Chelsea dominated possession to such an extent that it was little surprise when they finally made the breakthrough in the 40th minute.
Liam Delap teed up Neto and he whipped a superb finish into the corner from 20 yards.
Andrey Santos’ towering header was pushed over by Dillon Phillips after the interval and, from the resulting corner, Chelsea doubled their lead in the 51st minute.
Neto’s inswinger caught Phillips flat-footed at the near post, bouncing through his legs without a touch from either team.
Chelsea had blown a two-goal advantage in their 2-2 draw with Leeds in the Premier League on Tuesday.
But there was no chance of a repeat and Estevao grabbed their third with a composed finish from 12 yards in the 59th minute.
Neto made it four in the 71st minute, caressing a low finish past Phillips from Delap’s lay-off.
Wrexham beat fellow Championship side Ipswich 1-0 in Friday’s other fourth round tie.
The Welsh club, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, are into the last 16 for the first time since 1996-97.
