Italian soccer team to train on confiscated field

Italian soccer team to train on confiscated field

Published Sep. 19, 2011 1:04 p.m. ET

Italy's national soccer team will practice on a field in southern Italy that was confiscated from a crime syndicate to show support in the fight against organized crime.

The Italian soccer federation says the Nov. 13 training session will be in the small Calabrian town of Rizziconi.

The practice will come two days before Italy faces Uruguay in an exhibition game at an undetermined site. The Azzurri will also meet with local youths during the visit.

The 'ndrangheta crime syndicate is today considered more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia and has become one of the world's biggest cocaine traffickers.

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Italy normally trains in the town of Coverciano on the outskirts of Florence.

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