Extortion investigations haunt Italian player Fabrizio Miccoli

The former Palermo number 10 Fabrizio Miccoli – now rumoured for a move with trophy winners Birkirkara – has been implicated in an anti-Mafia investigation on extortion.

According to the reports in the Italian press, Miccoli was investigated for over two years on suspicions of extortion, namely enrolling the help of Mauro Lauricella – son of Mafia boss Salvatore, known as ‘Scintilluni’ – to shake down Palermo Calcio’s former physiotherapist.

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Two years earlier, Miccoli was heard in a telephone interception with Lauricella, calling slain anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone “mud”. He later asked the city of Palermo for forgiveness in a tearful press conference.

In April of this year, police managed to arrest Lauricella and mafioso Gioacchino Alioto, 62 – the latter known as ‘zu’ Gino’, an insider identified by turncoat Tommaso Buscetta back in the 1980s.

Miccoli has previously publicly declared he has no mafia ties and that he “dislikes the things that the mafia does.”

But the telephone conversations he was heard having included friends like Francesco Guttadauro, the nephew of mafia boss-in-hiding Matteo Messina Denaro; and the Carabinieri claim Miccoli was in Guttadauro’s company while meeting a Messina Denaro associated, Paolo Forte; and that his other friends include Luigi Giardina, a brother-in-law of mafia boss Gianni Nicchi (know as ‘u Tiramisù), and Nicola Milano, the boss of the Porta Nuova mandamento.

“I tried behaving myself like a normal person,” Miccoli later told the press. “Meeting anyone without asking where they were coming form.”

On Sunday, television crews eagerly awaited the arrival of Miccoli after reports emerged that the former Juventus and Palermo forward had travelled to Malta to hold talks over a possible move to Birkirkara next season.

Miccoli, who turns 36 next month, said he had come to Malta to meet some friends.

Asked whether he was considering a move to Birkirkara for next season, Miccoli told The Times that he was currently evaluating his options but didn't rule out the possibility of joining the Stripes.

Miccoli said, for the time being, he just wants to have a break from football after “a particular season”. He last played for Lecce.