ROME—The Flaminio Bocce Club, situated a few metres away from the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, will learn on May 5 whether it has been found to have infringed laws regarding alleged unauthorised developments, Il Fatto Quotidiano reports.

 The prestigious bocce club, a sport closely related to British bowls, has many preferential connections with members of the Italian Paralympics Board and even a politician from the PD party.

 In the last few years the club has added an exclusive restaurant, state of the art gym and parking lot to the bocce courts already in place. However, these recent developments are subject to an investigation with regards to the money used to build the project.

 In response to these allegations, President of the Italian Bocce Federation, Marco Giunio de Sanctis, told the media that it was “all legitimate.”

 “No rule was broken,” said de Sanctis, “The committee was a private entity and the regulations state that a private body can do what it wishes.”

 The direct link between the Bocce Federation and the Paralympic committee is clear, many of the members share the same surnames and eight of the employers of the Paralympic committee have connections to the world of Bocce.

 De Sanctis defended this coincidence by stating, “I choose people that I know and think highly of, it’s psychological; it’s inevitable.”

 “We have always respected all the rules, I have never hired relatives because that would be unsuitable, nor friends. But it is obvious that when the CVs are equal one prefers to choose someone who can be trusted, it’s like that everywhere.”

 The controversy is that, whilst being a private entity, the Federation does accept state contributions.  

 The judges investigating the goings on at Via Flaminia will have the last word and will give their verdict on May 5. In the event that the recent admissions to the club have not been regular, the club has agreed to revoke them in order to fully comply with the judge’s wishes. 

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