Juve, Lazio and Fiorentina drop to Serie B for match-fixing

Three of Italy's biggest football clubs ­ Juventus, Fiorentina, and Lazio ­ were yesterday relegated by the Italian Football Federation to the Second Division, Serie B, for their part in the systematic match-fixing which has grown into the biggest scandal in the history of European football.

The fourth club charged by the federation ­ Silvio Berlusconi's Milan ­ managed to hang on to its Serie A status but was docked 44 points from the 2005-06 season, costing the club its place in next season's Champions' League, and will start next season with 15 points deducted. The club's managing director, Adriano Galliani, who was also the president of the Football League, was suspended from any federation-run activities for one year.

The three relegated clubs will also begin next season with the handicap of points deducted. Juventus were docked 30 points, severely reducing the club's chances of survival in the division. During the hearing, the club's lawyer, Cesare Zaccone, had said that relegation to the Second Division would be an "acceptable punishment" for the role played in the affair by the club but the club clearly had not bargained for such a severe points penalty. Juventus were also stripped of their 2004-05 and 2005-06 scudettos.

Fiorentina will start next season with a penalty of 12 points and Lazio with seven points docked. The penalties hugely reduce the chances of the two clubs being promoted to Serie A at the end of the season. Luciano Moggi, the former sporting director of Juventus, and the architect, according to the federation's prosecutors, of a sophisticated match-fixing system, was banned from football for five years. Antonio Giraudo, the club's former managing director, was also banned for five years.

The former football federation president, Franco Carraro, was suspended for four years and six months and his former deputy, Innocenzo Mazzini, was suspended for five years. They had both put pressure on top refereeing officials to help the clubs.

The punishments for the clubs were slightly milder than those which had been requested by the federation prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, but still represent the most dramatic disciplinary action in the history of the Italian game, and come less than a week after Italy lifted the World Cup in Germany. The 2006-07 season has already been defined as a Year Zero for the game, as the federation, which was put under emergency administration by the government, attempts to rid calcio of all forms of corruption. The clubs now have five days to formulate an appeal, which would open on 20 July. The federation's appeal court would then have a week to reach final verdicts in order to meet the Uefa deadline for enrolling clubs in next season's European club competitions. Uefa said that if the appeal was not completed by then, it would draw up the calendar on the basis of last night's sentences.

All four clubs reacted angrily to the sentences, as their supporters staged impromptu protests. The Juventus president, Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, described the sentence as "excessively severe" and " absolutely unacceptable." He hoped that many of the club's top players would remain with the club and added that "if Real Madrid want our players, they will have to pay".

Moggi said Juve fans had been "defrauded" by the sentence because all the results were genuine and honestly earned on the field of play. " Not a single game was fixed and no referees were conditioned," he claimed.

Milan described the sentence as an "extraordinary injustice" and said that the correctness of the club's operations would be established on appeal. The club were treated more leniently than the others because they were not considered to have had "direct responsibility" for the actions of their referees' assistant, Leandro Meani.

Fiorentina's Diego Della Valle, said that the club had "done nothing wrong" and hoped to be able to demonstrate that on appeal. Their coach, Cesare Prandelli, said: "We are full of anger. We were preparing for the qualifying rounds of the Champions' League."

The Lazio president, Claudio Lotito, said: "Lazio have a right and a duty to make ourselves heard. Truth has been violated and we will appeal, if necessary, to the European Court of Justice. Lazio has never attempted to violate sporting or ethical rules."

Antonio Di Pietro, the Minister for Infrastructure and a former magistrate who made his name during the country's "Clean Hands" corruption trials in 1992, said that the sentences "could have been more severe". The sports minister, Giovanna Melandri, said the verdicts "are to be respected." She said that the government had not intervened in any way in the hearing.

* Juventus and Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro could be the first big name to leave the club, after it was claimed last night he has had talks with Roman Abramovich on the Chelsea owner's yacht.

Punishments for the clubs

* JUVENTUS

Relegated to Serie B and deducted 30 points from start of next season. Also stripped of their last two Serie A titles

* MILAN

Not relegated from Serie A but given a 15-point deduction from start of next season

* FIORENTINA

Relegated to Serie B and deducted 12 points from start of next season

* LAZIO

Relegated to Serie B and deducted seven points from start of next season