Italian clubs to learn fate this evening

Serie A clubs Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio and AC Milan look set to discover their fate after 6pm Irish time today in Rome where a trial on match-fixing is reaching its climax.

The president of the Italian Federal Appeals Commission (CAF), Cesare Ruperto, is expected to announce the verdicts after the closure of the stock exchange.

The four teams face possible relegation if found guilty of wrongdoing.

The scandal was uncovered as a result of a criminal investigation that was launched before the start of the 2004-2005 campaign by the Naples prosecutors’ office.

Telephone conversations between former Juventus general director Luciano Moggi and a referees supremo in charge of the appointments of officials during the 2004-2005 season were tapped.

Prosecutors based their probe on hundreds of bugged telephone calls between referee selectors, game officials and Moggi.

Italian media reports are predicting that only Milan will avoid the drop with the remaining three clubs set to play next season in the second-tier, Serie B.

Moreover, all four teams will lose their right to play in European competition next season, including Milan.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Juve will be the most severely punished of the four clubs as they will not only face demotion but will have to start the season with at least a 20-point deduction.

Fiorentina and Lazio will also have the handicap of a 10-point deduction.

In the case of Milan, the club could remain in the top flight but they would be given a points deduction.

The four clubs will have up to three days to appeal to the Federal Court but a final verdict has to be announced before July 25, when the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) must give UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, the list of teams that will compete in the continental club competitions in the 2006-07 campaign.

Inter, Roma, Chievo and Palermo, who finished third, fifth and seventh and eighth respectively last season, are expected to play in the Champions League.

FIGC commissioner Guido Rossi is unlikely to announce today whether the Scudetti won by Juventus in the past two seasons will be assigned to another club.

The announcement regarding the fate of the Serie A clubs, as well as the 25 people under investigation, will be read by the Federal Appeals Commission president Cesare Ruperto in Rome’s Parco dei Principi hotel.

Television broadcasters and radio stations will not be allowed to transmit the verdict live.