UPFROnT
FourFourTwo September 2019 29When Fabrizio Maiello’s football career turned bad,
he came up with a sinister solution to his problems.
Once a youth team player at Monza in Italy’s Serie B,
Maiello sustained a cruciate ligament injury and was
told he couldn’t play football any more. Then came
drugs and prison. Then, in 1991, he was locked up in
a criminal asylum in Reggio Emilia.
He was granted special leave three years later, but
didn’t return to the asylum. As a fugitive, he instead
decided to plan the kidnapping of a top Serie A star.
The victim was planned to be Gianfranco Zola, then
playing for Parma, who were owned by Calisto Tanzi
and the Parmalat company. Maiello hoped that Tanzi
would pay a big ransom to release the diminutive star.
“We often used to go to Collecchio to watch Parma’s
training sessions, and we decided to grab
Zola,” Maiello tells FourFourTwo. “It
should have been a lightning
abduction, trusting that Tanzi
would have paid us very
soon, within 24 or 48 hours.
We thought that maybe the
kidnapping could have been
resolved without the news
spreading.”
The plan took place in
a service station close to
Rimini. “We were following
Zola with two stolen cars
from far away,” Maiello
explains. “When he was“I PLAnnED TO KIDnAP ZOLA”
Reformed hoodlum reveals ransom plot to capture the miniature maestro
putting petrol into his car, I walked in his direction to
take him.” But he didn’t. “I suddenly thought ‘What the
fuck am I doing?’” he admits now. “I looked into Zola’s
eyes and I realised I couldn’t do it.
“I said ‘Forza Napoli!’ and asked for an autograph.
The only thing I had to sign was my new ID, given
when I got the special leave. He signed my document,
and seemed suspicious. We put on an act after that –
a sort of car chase, overtaking and driving side by side.
Then we waved him goodbye and changed course.”
Maiello also changed the course of his life. Returning
to the asylum, he started to help young people chase
their football dreams, and became famous for setting
football records. He did a 5km seal dribble – walking
with the ball balanced on his head – and also did
keepie-uppies while walking backwards for
1km. After 20 years of convictions,
he’s now a free man, working
as a gardener.
Zola later found out
about the kidnapping
attempt. “When he played
at Cagliari, I wanted to
arrange an exhibition with
him at the stadium, but
they didn’t issue me
a permit,” Maiello says.
“He’s a good person –
he didn’t deserve to
be abducted.”
Emanuele Giulianelli- Chris – who looks like Max Branning
out of EastEnders, the ginger geezer.
I don’t think that’s a particularly bad
thing, though.
You were born on the same day as...
[interrupts] John Barnes and Prince
Charles! One is the best footballer of his
generation, the other is going to be king
one day. Not bad.
...we were going to say Jan Vennegoor
of Hesselink.
It’s the longest name, isn’t it? He was
awkward to play against.
Should we all have where we come
from at the end of our names?
These are some fucked up questions.
Do they really go in the magazine?
Who’s the editor?
James Brown, but don’t blame him.
He’s dead, isn’t he?
It’s a different one. What mark
would you give the interview out of
10, so far?
You’re pushing a two.
We’ll take it. Let’s try to get the score
up. You’ve met a lot of world leaders
over the years. Which one would you
least like to get on the wrong side of?
I met Putin. He was accommodating, to
be honest, but he definitely has a side
to him that you wouldn’t want to cross.
You got into boxing. If every
footballer from your playing days
got into ring for the largest Royal
Rumble of all time, who’d be the last
man standing?
Neil Ruddock. He’d be hard for anyone
to move, the size of him. Vidic? He was
too light. He’d be thrown out.
Do you have any baffling dreams?
I have a recurring one where I’m sliding
down the roof of a building. That’s a bit
strange. Just as you’re going to hit the
ground, you wake up in a sweat.
Oof. Last one. Les defeated us in
a game of scissor, paper, stone over
the phone, and we’re desperate for
revenge over the Ferdinand dynasty.
Will you have a game?
Yeah OK. Let’s count to three and then
say what we’ve got. One, two, three...
Scissors!
I’ve got scissors as well. Nice. I enjoyed
that. You’ve gone up to a four out of 10.
Well done.
A new record! Thanks for chatting,
Rio...
No problem. Take care.
Rio Ferdinand is hosting junior football
camps with Football Escapes at The
Campus at Quinta do Lago in Portugal,
from August 12-16. The camps are open
to children aged five to 15, of all abilities.
For more info, visit http://www.quintadolago.
com/the-campus/soccer-camps