Italian swim federation slaps 90-day suspension on swimmers who shoplifted at Changi Airport

SINGAPORE: Chiara Tarantino and Benedetta Pilato, the two Italian Olympic swimmers who were detained in August after a shoplifting incident at Changi Airport, have been suspended by the Italian Swimming Federation for 90 days.

The ban, which began on Oct 9, means that the two women will not be able to compete at the 2025 Short Course European Championships in Lublin, Poland, from Dec 2 to 7. This may be especially painful for the 20-year-old Ms Pilato, who won medals at the championships in 2019, 2021, and 2023.

Following the shoplifting incident, Ms Pilato and Ms Tarantino, 22, were given a one-year conditional warning and banned from entering the city-state, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in early September.

The two women have not been charged, and the conditional warning means that, during the 12-month period specified by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, they are not to re-offend.

According to the Italian Swimming Federation, it accepted the plea bargain requests Ms Pilato and Ms Tarantino made individually. ESPN also reported that the federation took into account “the collaborative attitude of the athletes, who accepted their responsibility”.

Shoplifting at Changi Airport

Ms Pilato and Ms Tarantino had been in Singapore from Jul 11 to Aug 3 to take part in the World Aquatics Championships. Afterwards, they took a side trip to Bali and returned to Singapore on Aug 14. From there, they were scheduled to fly home to Italy.

While the two were at Changi Airport, Ms Tarantino was seen on camera taking three bottles of perfume from a duty-free shop. According to a report in Gazzetta dello Sport, Ms Tarantino then placed the bottles into Ms Pilato’s luggage. They were then apprehended by Singaporean authorities. The woman had taken items worth S$150, which were recovered.

In Parliament on Sep 24, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said that after the swimmers were arrested at Changi Airport, they asked for consular access, which is why the police informed the Italian embassy of the matter.

He underlined, however, that “there were no diplomatic interventions to influence the legal outcome” of the shoplifting incident. Based on the offence they committed, the swimmers were “treated in accordance with a framework for treating offenders,” he added.

Ms Pilato has since addressed the incident in an Instagram post, although she stopped short of an actual admission and apology. Ms Tarantino has not made a statement regarding the incident. /TISG

Read also: Italian World Aquatics medallist held in Changi shoplifting case claims she’s ‘learned great lessons’ from incident