Authorities in Campania have seized the Immobile Academy sports complex in Torre del Greco as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful building and waste management.
The order, issued by a judge at the Tribunal of Torre Annunziata at the request of prosecutors, concerns six individuals under investigation for works said to have been carried out without the required planning and landscape permissions in an area subject to environmental constraints, and for the alleged unlawful management of special hazardous waste.
Prosecutors say the suspects intervened on land already affected by past unregulated building and then executed further new works without the necessary titles, producing what they describe as a major transformation of the area. Some land parcels were allegedly converted from tall woodland to parking through earthworks and the laying of a milled asphalt layer, which investigators characterise as disposal of special non-hazardous waste.
Ciro Immobile, now a Bologna forward and the public face of the facility, is not among those under investigation. In a statement on social media, he expressed sadness at the seizure, saying the academy was intended to give children and teenagers a suitable place to play and train, and added that he remains confident that the technicians will demonstrate the regularity of the works and that the inquiry will clarify the facts.
Sorrento also uses the complex in Serie C for first-team training and for youth matches. The seizure leaves the club searching for an alternative base at short notice, compounding existing logistical problems while its home ground in Sorrento remains unavailable. Club president Giuseppe Cappiello said they are working to identify a solution as quickly as possible, amid a shortage of suitable venues in the Sorrento peninsula and the wider Naples metropolitan area.
Local police and the Carabinieri in Torre del Greco carried out the operation on Tuesday. Further procedural steps will follow as prosecutors in Torre Annunziata continue their inquiry into the alleged offences and the circumstances surrounding the development of the site.
