Italian Referees Association elect new President for 2025

The AIA (Italian Referees Association) has today officially elected Antonio Zappi as their new President, replacing Carlo Pacifici.

The former referee and director has been a member of the AIA in various roles for 40 years, even though he is now only 59 years old.

He was able to dominate the election, earning over 72 per cent of the votes from members in today’s meeting.

Italian referees seek new path

It was a curious situation, as Pacifici had only taken the role on a temporary basis in April 2023 when previous Referees Association chief Alfredo Trentalange was forced to step down over the D’Onofrio scandal.

That saw chief prosecutor of the AIA Rosario D’Onofrio arrested for being part of an international drug trafficking ring in 2022.

At the time, it emerged D’Onofrio had already been placed under house arrest in 2020, but had somehow successfully hid this when applying for the role with the Referees’ Association.

Trentalange has since been cleared of wrong-doing and therefore was up for re-election, but the AIA opted for a change and voted in numbers for Zappi.