LOCRI - The 5-a-side women's soccer team in Locri in Calabria has closed, as a result of threats from the ‘Ndrangheta, Calabria’s Mafia. 

  The team, part of the national first division championship, is closing because of threatening messages addressed to the President of ASD, Ferdinand Armeni, his family and other managers. President Armeni has pressed the police and the Digos, who are investigating, to identify the perpetrators of the intimidation, but in the meanwhile, the Locri team will not return to the field.

  The President of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), Malago, expressed solidarity, saying that ”Locri must play. On January 10, I want to see the girls on the field…They must not give in to these shameful acts.”

  The championship is currently on a pause over the Christmas break, and will resume on January 10 when Locri should play against Lazio. “With regards to the game against Lazio,” said Armeni, “they have already agreed to move the date of the match.”

  The prefect of Reggio Calabria Claudio Sammartino has meanwhile announced that it had ordered "appropriate safeguards" for the leadership of the Sporting Locri.

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