Italian Olympic swimmers Benedetta Pilato and Chiara Tarantino have been given a 12-month conditional warning and banned from entering Singapore by the country’s police after being alleged to have shoplifted from a duty free shop in the Singapore airport, the Straits Times is reporting.
Pilato, 20, and Tarantino, 22, were given the formal notice that allows them to avoid prosecution if they comply with specific conditions, including remaining crime-free. The lenient sentence in a country famously strict for its strict approach to crime came after intervention by Italian politicians.
The ban is significant because Singapore is a regular host of major international swimming events. Besides last year’s World Championships, the country has also hosted a stop of the FINA/World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Series 13 times, including last year. Pilato raced at that meet, finishing 2nd in the 50 breaststroke and 3rd in the 100 breaststroke.
According to reports, security cameras appeared to show the athletes placing items into a bag inside a duty-free shop and leaving without paying for them. The pair were held for several hours before being released. This happened on the return home from a vacation in Bali following the Singapore-hosted World Championships.
Security footage appeared to show Tarantino place a bottle of perfume, estimated to be worth around $100, in Pilato’s bag.
Pilato released a statement addressing the matter, but not admitting fault, on her Instagram account; Tarantino appears to have deleted her accounts. The matter has become a hot-button topic domestically, with the public aggressively condemning the pair, especially Tarantino, who is taking most of the finger pointing as the one responsible for the act among the hoi polloi.
Tarantino is a swimmer of the team of the Guardia di Finanza, the military/police corps that prosecutes financial crimes in Italy. That is bringing extra scrutiny.
Others have called for calm in attacks against the two swimmers, who are facing a media firestorm.
Pilato won a bronze medal in the 50 breaststroke at the championships. That is her fifth career World Championship medal in long course in the 50 breaststroke and sixth overall (she won the 100 breast in 2022).
Tarantino is one of the country’s best sprinters, and attended the World Championships as a relay-only swimmer.
Both swimmers were members of the 2024 Olympic Team; Pilato also raced at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
“Tarantino is a swimmer of the team of the Guardia di Finanza, the military/police corps that prosecutes financial crimes” great punchline
“Security footage appeared to show Tarantino place a bottle of perfume, estimated to be worth around $100, in Pilato’s bag.”
aint no way I literally guessed it lmao
again, nobodys suffering financially from this
ofc they should face consequences and criticism but everybody who says they’re too lenient or even supports this current punishment is just a nerd, get a life ffs. if you wanna be a philistine so bad go ahead but keep that weird sh*t to yourself
A caning would have made this article a lot more interesting.
I caned my kid when he said he wanted to leave Middle earth and swim in college. We have 50m pools in Middle earth and that is it.
Sad to see that the punishment is so light… this is definitely not their first time doing it they are so used to it. The only difference is they got caught…… should be banned from international meet for a certain period of time… you need to behave well and have accountability before representing your country.
They were even indignant in their social media, saying it was just an inconvenience.
Weird Al said it best.
Once there was this kid who
Took a trip to Singapore and brought along his spray paint
And wheeeeen he finally came back
He had cane marks all over his bottom
He said that it was from when the warden whacked it soooooo hard
Mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm
Another incident to create speculation and judgment!
Remember when some folks said in the earlier article:
“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding”
“Why are people being harsh on them? They’re just kids. We all did something stupid like they did when we were kids”
Yeah no.
Kids, yeah right. More than likely this was planned and not their first time stealing products. Probably do it in every country they compete in. Just finally got caught.
They had spent a few weeks holidaying in Bali before getting caught in Changi. Pretty sure they had ample time thieving in Bali with far less surveillance cameras and lax attitude towards foreign tourists.