Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject: a dark day in Italian football
Trio relegated, Milan stay up
Quote:
Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have been relegated to Serie B following the outcome of the Italian match-fixing scandal, but Milan will stay in the top flight.
Turin giants Juventus have also been stripped of the last two Serie A titles the team have won, been fined €80,000 (£50,000) and have also been handed a 30-point deduction for next season.
Joining the Old Lady in Serie B are Lazio, who have been docked seven points for next season, and Fiorentina, who have been hit with a 12-point penalty.
Milan have avoided demotion to the second tier of Italian football, although they have been penalised 15 points for next term.
In addition, the Rossoneri will not take part in the coming campaign's UEFA Champions League after being docked 44 points from last season's total.
The punishments mean that Italy will need to find three new entrants for Champions League participation due to the sanctions against Fiorentina, Juventus and Milan.
Several officials have also been hit hard following the verdict in the match-fixing scandal which arose after allegations that Juventus tried to arrange the appointment of referees.
Former Juve general manager Luciano Moggi has been banned from the game for five years - the same penalty meted out to Antonio Giraudo.
Ex-Italian Football Federation president Franco Carraro has been suspended for four years and six months - the same length of time which referee Massimo De Sanctis has been banned for.
Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has been banned for 12 months, Fiorentina president Andrea Della Valle for four years and Lazio supremo Claudio Lotito for three years.
The scandal has rocked Italian football and has taken the gloss off the national team's recent World Cup victory, with some having called for leniency.
But Italian Federation Commission judge Cesare Ruperto (pictured) has come down hard on the clubs involved, with the punishments possibly seeing a mass exodus from those concerned.
Juventus could lose the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with the 30-point penalty making an immediate return to Serie A a tough ask.
Fiorentina will face a fight to hang on to the likes of Luca Toni, while Lazio full back Massimo Oddo is expected to be in demand.
The lack of European football at Milan could also witness Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, among others, move on to pastures new.
All four clubs are expected to appeal against the verdicts, but as things stand Internazionale and Roma would qualify automatically for next term's Champions League.
Chievo Verona and Palermo would enter at the preliminary stage, while Livorno, Empoli and Parma would go into the Uefa Cup.
There will also be a reprieve for Messina, Lecce and Treviso, who had initially been relegated last season, although there is a new inquiry relating to the former-named club.
Milan are confident the verdict in the match-fixing scandal will be overturned on appeal.
The Rossoneri are the only side of the four clubs investigated in the matter to have escaped relegation from Serie A.
But the club will start next season with a 15-point deduction and have also been docked 44 points from last term's total.
The sanctions mean Milan will not play in Europe during the coming campaign, while the club's vice-president Adriano Galliani (pictured) has been banned for a year.
Milan have voiced their displeasure at the punishment meted out and have confirmed their intention to lodge an appeal.
"AC Milan consider the decision of the Federal Commission is composed by extraordinary unfairness and absolutely deserves a complete change," read a statement on the club's official website.
"An appeal will be presented once the text of the decision has been made available, with the certainty that the decision will be completely changed on appeal with the recognition of the absolute correctness of the club."
Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have all been relegated to Serie B following Friday's verdict, with the Old Lady stripped of the past two seasons' titles.
Juve and Fiorentina also plan to appeal, while Lazio president Claudio Lotito, who has been banned for three years, has vowed to clear his club's name.
Lotito told RAI tv: "It's a verdict that we didn't expect because we never thought, or tried, to violate the rules.
"Certainly the fact that a few referees that were claimed to be involved in matches in which we were playing have been absolved is clear.
"Lazio have the right and the duty to do everything to safeguard the club and the truth that, with this sentence, has been violated.
"If necessary, we will also go to the European court."
Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gilli has confirmed there will be an appeal against the verdict which has condemned the club to Serie B.
Following the outcome of the match-fixing scandal which has blown apart Italian football, Juve have been relegated from Serie A.
The Old Lady have also been stripped of the titles won over the past two seasons and been handed a 30-point deduction for next term.
Cobolli Gilli is upset with the severity of the punishment and is hoping for leniency when the club's appeal is heard.
"Juve are disappointed with the relegation and the 30-point deduction suffered," Cobolli Gilli told RAI tv.
"We don't accept this responsibility that has a weight on the club and that would have to be put on the shoulders of former officials.
"We will appeal and we will do everything to allow our reasons to be accepted."
Juve chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc said: "We expected a balanced sentence from a court comprised of jurors of such esteem both in form and content.
"Evidently, our expectations were misplaced as the sentence signals a clear desire to strike Juventus with excessive severity.
"We do not understand the differential legal treatment applied to the four cases under consideration.
"As the facts are clearly demonstrated, the episodes relating to Juventus, under the observation of the sporting tribunal, are without question comparable to those with the other teams charged.
"At this moment our priority is to look after the interests of the fans, and those of the small shareholders, and straight away we will appeal."
Fiorentina have also been relegated for their role in the scandal and will start in Serie B with a 12-point penalty.
The Viola will join Juventus in appealing against the sanctions and feel the verdict is 'profoundly unjust'.
A statement on Fiorentina's website read: "Fiorentina take note of the verdict made by the Federal Appeal Commission - a verdict that is considered absolutely not right.
"With reference to this, Fiorentina underline with strength, the absolute correctness of its officials' behaviour.
"For the respect of the city, supporters and of the dignity of the persons involved, Fiorentina will struggle in every way to ascertain the real events."
Probably many transfers will take place in Italy now. _________________ If the Argentina group is called the group of death. The England group should be called bore you to death group.
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