Juventus demoted for match-fixing
14/07/2006 4:54:06 PM
Famed soccer team Juventus has received the stiffest penalty among the four teams implicated in Italy's match-fixing scandal.
CBC Sports
Juventus has been stripped of its last two Serie A championships and demoted to Italy's second division next season as a result of the probe. Lazio and Fiorentina have also been relegated to Serie B, while AC Milan has been permitted to remain in the top division.
An Italian sports tribunal made the ruling Friday in Rome.
Juventus will also start next season with a whopping 30-point penalty, meaning the club will likely remain in Serie B for more than one season.
Lazio received a seven-point penalty, while Fiorentina was penalized 12 points. AC Milan, the fourth club implicated in the probe, was allowed to stay in Serie A, but was slapped with a 15-point penalty for next season.
Each team has five days to appeal the ruling to a higher sports court.
The announcement came five days after Italy won the World Cup in Germany. Thirteen of the players on Italy's 23-man roster play for the four penalized teams.
Team officials probed
High-ranking Italian soccer officials also received personal punishments.
Franco Carraro, chief of the large Italian soccer league and a member of the International Olympic Committee, was banned from soccer for 41/2 years. Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi was issued a five-year suspension
Moggi and another former Juventus executive were accused of creating a network of contacts with soccer federation officials to help influence referee assignments for their matches.
Officials from AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were also fingered in the probe.
Originally posted by Briscoe41/2...that is a lot of years😕
Juventus demoted for match-fixing
14/07/2006 4:54:06 PM
Famed soccer team [b]Juventus has received the stiffest penalty among the four teams implicated in Italy's match-fixing scandal.
CBC Sports
Juventus has been stripped of its last two Serie A championships and demoted to Italy's second division next season as a result of t ...[text shortened]... hes.
Officials from AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were also fingered in the probe.[/b]
