Juve lose £7.2m on Vieira sale to Inter

Vieira arrives at Inter

The France midfielder Patrick Vieira has been sold to Internazionale from Juventus for a fee of £6.5m. It represents a substantial loss on the £13.7m the Turin side paid Arsenal last summer, but players are being sold after the club's relegation to Serie B as punishment for their role in the Italian match-fixing scandal.

As well as dropping into Italy's second division, Juventus have been told they face a 17-point deduction to start the 2006-07 campaign. The club have lodged an appeal against the penalty to CONI, the Italian Olympic Committee, the highest sporting body in Italy.

Milan were yesterday given the go-ahead to take part in this season's Champions' League by Uefa, European football's governing body. Milan will face Cork City or Red Star Belgrade in the third qualifying round next week after Uefa's emergency panel decided they could play in Europe's premier club competition.

The six-times European champions were found guilty in the Serie A match-fixing probe, but an Italian appeals court adjudicating in the scandal reduced their initial punishment.

Milan, who had 15 points deducted, had the deficit cut to eight, which enabled them to be included in last Friday's draw for the Champions' League.