Stefano Bettarini (; born 6 February 1972) is an Italian retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender, and a television personality. He played once for the Italy national team. He was a contestant on Grande Fratello VIP, 2016 and currently a host presenter in

L'Isola dei Famosi ''L'isola dei famosi'' (; Italian for ''The Celebrity Island'' or ''The island of the famous'') is an Italian Reality television, reality show, first aired on Rai 2 in 2003, before moving to Canale 5 in 2015. This program is the Italian ''Survivor ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

''comune'', Emilia-Romagna, Bettarini spent his childhood at

Buonconvento Buonconvento is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about south of Florence and about southeast of Siena in the area known as the Crete Senesi. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("T ...

''comune'', in the

Province of Siena The province of Siena (, ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Siena. It has 259,826 inhabitants. Geography The province is divided into seven historical areas: * Alta Val d'Elsa * Chian ...

, Tuscany. He then spent his youth career at a local side of

Staggia Senese Staggia Senese is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Poggibonsi, province of Siena. At the time of the 2001 census its population was 2,129.Poggibonsi Poggibonsi is a town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Central Italy. It is located on the River Elsa (river), Elsa and is the main centre of the Valdelsa, Valdelsa Valley. History The area around Poggibonsi was already settled in the Neolithic ...

, in the

. He was signed by

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

in 1990. After first being loaned to Baracca Lugo, Bettarini joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side Lucchese and played four successive Serie B seasons, including one at

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

. In June 1996, he was signed by

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

but the team were relegated in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Fiorentina

In July 1997, he was signed by

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

and priced at 3 billion

Italian lire The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually fo ...

. After a limited chance, he was loaned to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 30 January 1999.

Venezia

On 2 September 1999, he was signed by Serie A side

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

for 4 billion lire transfer fee. He signed a four-year contract. He followed the team relegated in 2000 and promoted back to Serie A in 2001. But the

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

side relegated again in 2002.

Sampdoria

After

Maurizio Zamparini Maurizio Zamparini (9 June 1941 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian businessman. He was the owner and director of football club Palermo between July 2002 – February 2017 and from July 2017 – December 2018. Biography Zamparini had business ...

the owner of Venezia, purchased

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

(and selling Venezia at the same time), Zamparini bought most of the squad to Sicily, except some players such as Bettarini. Bettarini then joined Serie B side

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

on a free transfer, as Venezia had to reduce the salary expenditure. He signed a reported two-year contract. According to Bettarini himself, Venenzia had sent a letter to him, accusing that he rejected the transfer to Palermo and then

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

in mid-2002 transfer window, thus unable to pay his wage for 2002–03 season. However, he denied that he rejected the moves to Palermo nor Brescia.

Match-fixing and Parma

In August 2004, he was banned 5 months for

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

Antonio Marasco Antonio Marasco (born 19 February 1970) is an Italian former professional footballer. From 2007, he played as a midfielder in Serie D, the fifth highest level in Italian football and the level right below the professional league. Career Born ...

, Roberto D'Aversa,

Generoso Rossi Generoso Rossi (born 3 January 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Rossi started his career at A.S. Bari. he was on loan to Serie C1 teams, and returned to Bari in summer 2000. He made hi ...

, Maurizio Caccavale and Alfredo Femiano were also banned. Bettarini denied he was guilty and was wrongly included in the investigation. In January 2005, he left for

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. Bettarini made his club debut on 3 February 2005 (round 22), against

as starter. That match ''Gialloblu'' lost 3–1. He then continued as one of the starting XI. On round 28 (13 March) against

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, he was substituted by

Matteo Contini Matteo Contini (born 16 April 1980) is an Italian football coach and former player. He played as a centre-back or left-back. He is currently in charge as head coach of club Legnago Salus. Playing career AC Milan Contini started his profession ...

in the 16th minute. He then out of a month due to injury. He came back to field on round 32 (20 April) against his former club

, but substituted by

Paolo Cannavaro Paolo Cannavaro (; born 26 June 1981) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back and most recently was the head coach of Serie C club Pro Vercelli. After beginning his career with S.S.C. Napol ...

in the second minute. That season Parma reached the semi-final of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

; Bettarini retired at the end of the season.

International career

Bettarini received his only national team call-up in 2004, a warm-up

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

in Palermo, against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

before the start of

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

, on 18 February. Bettarini's club teammate

Sergio Volpi Sergio Volpi (; born 2 February 1974) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Volpi was capped twice for the Italy senior side at international level, and spent over ten seasons in Serie A throughout his career. Club career ...

, as well as Parma's Simone Barone, also received their first call-up. During the experimental match, Bettarini played as one of the starting XI, and was replaced by

Giuseppe Pancaro Giuseppe Pancaro (; born 26 August 1971) is a former Italian football defender turned coach. Club career Born in Cosenza, Calabria, Pancaro started his youth career with Acri. He later moved to the Torino FC Youth squad remaining with the club ...

in the 79th minute. Italy manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

used all of his 22-men squad on the field, and made seven substitutions at half time; the match ended in a 2–2 draw.

Personal life

Bettarini was married to Italian television host

Simona Ventura Simona Ventura (born 1 April 1965) is an Italian television presenter and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Italia 1988 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1988. She is the third woman to have presented the Sanremo Music Festiv ...

between 1998 and 2004; the couple had two children together.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettarini, Stefano 1972 births Living people Footballers from Forlì Footballers from the Province of Siena Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Inter Milan players Lucchese 1905 players US Salernitana 1919 players Cagliari Calcio players ACF Fiorentina players Bologna FC 1909 players Venezia FC players UC Sampdoria players Parma Calcio 1913 players Men's association football defenders