THE lawyer representing Juventus at the appeals trial in Italy’s match-fixing scandal pleaded for leniency yesterday, saying that last week’s decision by a sports tribunal to relegate the club to the second division with a 30-point penalty would have “devastating consequences”.

The four clubs hit by sanctions in the Italian match-fixing trial were today beginning their appeals at the federal court in Rome.

It was the turn of Lazio president Claudio Lotito to plead his innocence in the Italian match-fixing trial today.