Murder exposes growing ties between mafia and Italian football

IIt takes a tough man to lead the “Ultra” football fan base at Inter Milan, one of the most famous clubs in the world. Andrea Beretta certainly met that criterion on September 4 when he fatally stabbed Antonio Bellocco five times in the neck and six times in the heart during a brawl.

The 49-year-old Beretta was quickly arrested, but the murder has also shed light on the murky ties between the Ultras – the most passionate and sometimes violent fans of Italy’s legendary football giants – and another Italian institution: the Mafia.

From his cell, Beretta now fears for his life, thanks to the identity of his victim, a scion of one of the bloodiest clans within Italy’s deadly ‘Ndrangheta mafia.

“Beretta goes