Aston Villa have brought in the man who exposed attempted match-fixing in Italy last year as a community coach.
Simone Farina will aid Aston Villa in spreading a message of fair play. He will help in the development of the next generation of players in Aston Villa’s community programme.
Farina, now 30 years old, was at Serie B team Gubbio, when he turned down an offer of £160,000 (200,000 euros), which was double his yearly salary to influence the Italian Cup match between Cesena and his team last November. However, Farina, who also used to be a defender for Roma, refused, before reporting the offence to the police, leading to 17 people being arrested .
As a result, he was made the Fifa ambassador for fair play by Fifa president Sepp Blatter and was awarded a commemorative medal by Interpol, a police organisation for the contribution to law enforcement and crime prevention. Additionally, it was Interpol who recommended Farina to Aston Villa chairman Randy Lerner.
Farina has been in Birmingham for the last few weeks and will help children aged between five and 12 and find talent for Villa’s Bodymoor Heath academy.
Lerner has said that Interpol’s Secretary General recommended Farina for “his immense courage and dignity when confronted with a very difficult situation.”
Lerner added: “I’m really pleased that Simone has taken up this opportunity and that he has fit in quickly and so well with our community coaching programme.”
Farina says that he is “delighted” to work with Villa and help with the development of younger players.
He added: “I wanted to move on with my life. Now I feel that I have real purpose again because of the support and opportunity Villa have given me. Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner have been fantastic and already I feel I am part of the Villa family, with the way the club have embraced me. The opportunity here at Villa is perfect for me.”
Farina is an FA qualified coach, and has a Level One Award in Coaching Football.
