Watch: Former Birkirkara striker Miccoli jailed for extortion

Former Birkirkara striker Fabrizio Miccoli was on Wednesday sentenced to three years and six months in prison after his appeal for extortion was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Miccoli, dubbed Il Romario del Salento, was found guilty for aggravated extortion from the mafia method which saw him commission to Mauro Lauricella, son of the Mafia boss of Antonino Lauricella, the recovery of €12,000 from Andrea Graffagnini, former owner of the Paparazzi disco in Isola delle Femmine.

SkyItalia reported that the ‘aggravating circumstance of the mafia method excludes any possible benefit in favour of the former footballer’.

The appeal was rejected and confirmed Miccoli’s sentence of three years and six months.

The former Palermo striker joined Birkirkara in the summer of 2015 from Lecce when he put pen to paper on a one-year contract.

The former Italy international had a fine start to his career with Birkirkara when he scored the winner in a memorable 1-0 win over West Ham United in the Europa League qualifiers at the National Stadium.

However, his spell at Birkirkara came to an end in December 2015 when he reached an agreement to rescind his contract. He ended his Birkirkara stint with six Premier League goals and two in the Europa League.

Throughout his career, Miccoli played 259 matches and 103 goals in Serie A and 17 appearances in the Champions League between his stints at Juventus and Benfica.