Weeks after its president received threats telling him to close the club, Sporting Locri is kicking off again after an outpouring of support from across Italy

One of Italy’s best female football teams will make a defiant return to the pitch on Sunday, taking a stand against mafia-style threats that sought to shut down the club.

Sporting Locri, which hails from the southern Calabria region and competes in Italy’s top Serie A league, had announced its closure last month after its president received intimidating messages relating to the club and his daughter, and had his car tyres slashed.

But, after an outpouring of indignant and emotional messages from other teams across the country, the five-a-side squad said it would return to the pitch at a match this weekend to be broadcast on national television and attended by the Italian FA’s president, Carlo Tavecchio, along with other sporting officials.

“To tell the truth, in order to continue in the championship it doesn’t make sense to stop. It will be good to continue ... Sunday will be a great day for sport,” said midfielder Rosanna Rovito.

A criminal investigation is under way to find out who was behind the threats, which began on 7 December when the club’s president, Ferdinando Armeni, received a message reading: “It’s time to close Sporting Locri. Leave!”. The team continued playing until just before Christmas, when Armeni’s tyres were slashed and the messages became more violent.

The president decided to take action when a note suggested his daughter would be the target. A post declaring “Game Over” on the club’s Facebook page announced it was heeding the warnings and would close.

Such intimidation is a technique commonly used by mafia clans in Calabria, which is home to the notorious ’Ndrangheta mafia. It is not yet known whether the club suffered intimidation specifically because it is a female side, or whether other factors were at play.

Although Italy’s national women’s side is ranked 13th in the world – above their male counterparts at 15th place – female football teams are relatively rare in a society where sexism remains common.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sporting Locri: although Italy’s national women’s side is ranked 13th in the world - above their male counterparts - female football teams are relatively rare in a society where sexism remains common. Photograph: Sporting Locri

Massimo Achini, the national president of the Italian Sports Centre, said there were far fewer opportunities for women to play football than men. “There are places where playing football remains a dream for women. In Calabria, there are towns where there are no sports centres,” he said.

Sporting Locri is one of Italy’s most important female clubs and, following the threats, an “I go to play in Locri” initiative was launched to further raise its profile. The scheme brought hundreds of people to the town on 6 January, a public holiday, for a community sports day.

“I’m happy that it went well. There were a lot of people and it was a beautiful thing to see,” said Beita Fernandez, Sporting Locri’s captain. She is one of four Spanish players in the side and, threats aside, is focusing on winning their upcoming game against Lazio C5: “It’s a match that we must win, we must get more points and continue to play until the end,” she said.

While Italy’s response to the Sporting Locri threats has highlighted the ability of sport to bind communities together in the face of criminality, in Calabria football can be a profitable enterprise for the mafia.

Arturo Bova, the president of the region’s anti-’Ndrangheta commission, said the powerful mafia group seeks to be involved in every sector of Calabrian society. “They arrive to do shady dealings, not to do good,” he said, remarking that during his career he has often had his car torched by criminal elements.

“A huge amount of money moves in Italian football … the ’Ndrangheta use it for money-laundering or to control territory,” he explained. The Calabrian mafia is one of the world’s most powerful criminal organisations and makes millions of euros from the cocaine trade, laundering profits through legal businesses.

Bova said the ’Ndrangheta typically keeps a low profile and if it is found responsible for the Sporting Locri threats, it would be the first time the mobsters have acted in such a direct way against a football club. “There’s a new type of mafia, the young bosses are more brazen than the bosses of the past. Today’s young guys have a more arrogant mentality,” he said.

But despite the mafia’s capacity to interfere in football, the president of the Italian Sports Centre in Reggio Calabria, Paolo Cicciù, is convinced sport initiatives can offer young Italians an alternative to criminality.

“Invest resources in sport, think of the initiatives that we do in places such as Locri,” he said. “Sport is a choice for legality. If the government invests in this in Calabria, perhaps something can change.”

Despite the difficulties facing clubs in Calabria, Cicciù credited Sporting Locri with helping to develop women’s football in Italy, a standing the team will not willingly give up. Sounding upbeat ahead of their next match, coach Luis Lapuente said the players had no problems and are ready for kickoff.

“As we have said from the beginning, we will continue to play … We will go ahead,” he said.