An investigation into Inter Milan’s ultras has uncovered phone conversations between team manager Simone Inzaghi and Marco Ferdico, a prominent ultras leader who was recently arrested. The discussions, which took place in May 2023, centered around obtaining additional tickets for the Champions League final in Istanbul.
Corriere della Sera report that according to intercepted calls, Ferdico explicitly asked Inzaghi to intervene with the club’s management, specifically mentioning CEO Beppe Marotta, to secure 200 extra tickets for the ultras group. Inzaghi reportedly promised to intercede with the club’s top executives on their behalf.
A key conversation occurred on May 26, 2023, where Inzaghi expressed his frustration with the ultras’ decision to protest during the Coppa Italia final due to limited ticket allocation for the Champions League final. Inzaghi told Ferdico, “I read the message that the curva wasn’t singing at a final… I got furious… not with you… with the club.” He added that he had urged the club to resolve the issue, saying, “There are 4 hours left… try to fix this because it’s unacceptable.”
In response, Ferdico requested Inzaghi’s help in obtaining more tickets: “I’ll be brief, Mister… they gave us 1,000 tickets… we did the math… we need 200 more to be comfortable.” Inzaghi replied, “I’ll talk to Ferri, Zanetti, Marotta… I’ll let you know what they say.”
The investigation also revealed that the ultras leaders had contacted former player Marco Materazzi and current Vice President Javier Zanetti regarding ticket allocation. Their efforts apparently paid off, as Ferdico later exclaimed, “They gave me 1500 tickets!”
