ABSTRACT
Mafia power is a complex system where criminal entrepreneurial skills mix with cultural norms to secure the longevity and resilience of the clans. In Italy, especially in the south, mafias have been prospering thanks to a symbiotic link with the communities and territories over which they exercise control, but both the concept of territory and the concept of social control have been changing as mafia groups have moved and evolved in different areas. Indeed, social control can be achieved through consensus and feeds on the establishment of relationships with the local system of power in which corruption has become doxic. This chapter has two main objectives. It will first present the dynamics and the manifestations of corruption and mafia power in national soccer, then will switch focus to the three main mafia organisations as presented in the most recent investigations, mainly at the local level.
