Football conspiracies: The Prisma investigation and fans’ online discourse

The Italian history of football (calcio, soccer) is particularly rich in narratives and interpretative mechanisms associated with conspiracy theories. In the case of events unfavorable to their team, it is not uncommon for fans, especially highly identified ones, to appeal to explanations centered on external forces that have been plotting against them. This chapter explores the main characteristics of conspiracy theories within online sports fans communities, analyzing fans’ conspiracy representations and narratives. The specific focus of the analysis are some online communities of Juventus FC fans. The case of Juventus is of particular interest because the club has recently been at the center of a judicial affair, the so-called Prisma investigation, which had great resonance and generated a heated media debate. The research reported in the chapter adopted qualitative content analysis as a technique with which to analyze fan comments and content produced and distributed within online fan communities. It shows how fans may perceive judicial events as the result of some sort of conspiracy hatched by different types of actors involved in sports, the judiciary, politicians, and the media.