Lazio and Fiorentina reinstated

LAZIO and Fiorentina have been reinstated to Serie A but Juventus remain in Serie B following their appeals against the sanctions imposed as a result of the match-fixing scandal.

The Rome and Florence outfits had been relegated to Serie B and docked seven and 12 points respectively for the new season. But they returned to the top flight following an announcement by federal court president Piero Sandulli last night.

Fiorentina will start the new season with a 19-point deduction, while Lazio will have an 11-point deficit.

Juventus, the club hardest hit for breaking Italian Football Federation (FIGC) rules, remain in Serie B but have had their 30-point deduction reduced to 17. AC Milan, who avoided relegation under the original verdict have seen their 15-point penalty reduced to eight.

The verdict means Milan will play in this season’s Champions League — along with Inter Milan, Roma and Chievo — but will have to go through the qualifying rounds.

Both Juventus and Fiorentina were given three-match stadium bans, meaning they will play their first trio of home games in their 2006-07 campaigns on neutral territory.

Lazio and Milan were handed two-match and one-match stadium bans respectively.

The scandal was uncovered as a result of a criminal investigation which was launched before the start of the 2004-05 campaign by the Naples prosecutors’ office.

Telephone conversations between former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and a referees’ supremo in charge of the appointments of officials during the 2004-05 season were tapped. Prosecutors based their probe on hundreds of bugged telephone calls between referee selectors, game officials and Moggi.

After the original verdicts by the federal court were announced on July 14, Juve and Fiorentina immediately declared their intention to appeal.

Lazio and Milan also went on to file appeals before the deadline.

Stefano Palazzi, the federal prosecutor who recommended harsher sentences for all the clubs at the start of the process, stuck by his initial verdict. He had said Juve should have been sent to Serie C, with Milan joining Fiorentina and Lazio in Serie B.

The appeals court ruled that Fiorentina and Lazio should both be deducted 30 points from their 2005-06 season-ending total, meaning the pair will miss out on European football next season. The UEFA Cup places will instead be taken by Palermo, Livorno and Parma.

Lecce and Treviso are the clubs to lose out following the appeals verdict.

The pair, who finished last season as the two bottom clubs in Serie A, were reinstated to the top flight — along with 18th-placed Messina — after the original verdict. But with Fiorentina and Lazio back in Serie A, Lecce and Treviso return to the second tier.

Messina stay up, with Juventus failing in their bid to climb back.

Several individual punishments have also been affected, with Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani‘s ban from holding an active role at the club cut from one year to nine months.

Lazio president Claudio Lotito saw his sentence reduced from three years to two years and six months, while Fiorentina honorary president Diego Della Valle was given a three-month reduction to three years and nine months. Moggi, who had resigned, had his five-year suspension upheld.