This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Who are the ultimate owners of Italian soccer clubs? Where does the money invested in these clubs come from?
And what risks lie behind investment funds, fiduciary companies and transnational corporate structures that make it difficult to identify the individuals who ultimately control them? These questions are addressed by a new paper published in the Journal of Economic Criminology and authored by Francesco Addesa, senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University (U.K.), and Michele Riccardi, professor of criminology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and director of the research center Transcrime (www.transcrime.it). The study provides the first systematic analysis of the ownership structures of more than 250 clubs across Italy's top four soccer divisions, from Serie A to Serie D, examining the relationship between ownership transparency, financial misconduct and criminal investigations.
The research reveals significant levels of ownership opacity and international exposure. In the 2025–26 season, the researchers identified 27 entities at the top of club ownership chains, including investment funds, fiduciary companies and other structures that prevent the identification of the natural persons holding the ultimate economic interests. Twenty of these entities exercise direct or indirect control over Italian soccer clubs.
Ownership chains span 62 jurisdictions, including 26 of the 30 jurisdictions ranked as having the highest levels of financial secrecy by the Tax Justice Network. Among the most frequently encountered are the United States, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. The phenomenon also affects lower-division clubs, with a significant presence of U.S. investors, particularly holding companies and funds registered in Delaware.
The research tracked 265 clubs from the 2022–23 season onward, examining sporting sanctions, exclusions from competitions and criminal proceedings emerging over the following three years. The findings show that clubs with opaque ownership structures were approximately three times as likely to receive sporting sanctions as other clubs: 29.4% compared with 9.7%. The ratio increases to four times when Serie A clubs are excluded.
Exclusions from competitions were also more frequent: 29.4% compared with 12.1%. The most striking finding, however, concerns criminal investigations and allegations. More than half (52.9%) of clubs with opaque ownership structures were linked to criminal allegations or investigations involving individuals in senior positions within the clubs, compared with just 5.6% of other clubs.
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