Four Serie A clubs, referees, officials and club managers will have to stand trial for match-fixing in Italy's biggest-ever sports scandal, Italian soccer Federation (FIGC) prosecutor Stefano Palazzi said on Thursday.
Champions Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan face possible relegation if found guilty by a FIGC tribunal which will convene next week. FIGC said Palazzi "had notified 30 subjects" that they will be charged with sporting fraud and violations of fairness and probity, according to articles 1 and 6 of the FIGC's sporting regulations.
Teams convinced of sporting fraud can be relegated, can be stripped of their title, have points deducted next season as well as face fines.
Individuals found guilty of misconduct face the prospect of being banned from working in the game.
FIGC's brief statement did not name the individuals charged but nine referees, former FIGC Chief Franco Carraro and Lazio Chairman Claudio Lotito were among those suspected of being implicated, as well as former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, the alleged ringleader.
The announcement came an hour after Italy's national team reached the second round of the World Cup by beating the
Czech Republic 2-0 and after the Italian bourse closed for the day.
Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) emergency administrator Guido Rossi told reporters on Wednesday that the timing of the announcement was in accordance with the wishes of bourse oversight body Consob, which has foreseen large movements in
the stock of the two listed clubs involved, Juventus and Lazio.
Juventus, which clinched its 29th Italian title last month, is expected to face the stiffest charges in the trial, due to start on June 27.
The Turin giants could be relegated to the third division and lose their two most recent Italian titles, while the other three clubs are likely to be relegated to the second division - although Milan is said to be more heavily implicated.
All four clubs would therefore be eliminated from European competition next year.
Rossi said the delay in announcing the indictments would not affect the schedule for the sporting side of what has been called 'Soccergate' or, after its alleged ringleader, Luciano Moggi, 'Moggigate'. The tribunal should issue its sentences by July 9. Appeals should be heard before July 20, so the whole sporting disciplinary process can be wrapped up before UEFA
conducts the draws for next season's European club competitions.
Four separate criminal probes into the scandal are expected to take much longer.
A month ago Rossi appointed ex-Clean Hands spearhead Francesco Saverio Borrelli to examine wiretaps of Moggi and officials from other clubs talking to, or about, referee appointers, referees, linesmen and FIGC officials who have since resigned.
On Monday Borrelli handed over his 193-page report to Palazzi.
AC Milan fans immediately began sweating about the prospect of following their team in Serie B next year, after press reports suggested the club was more heavily implicated in 'Moggi-gate' than previously thought. Up to now the main suspect has been Juventus, because of Moggi's allegedly central role.
Lazio and Fiorentina were also thought to be in danger of relegation, on the basis of wiretapped conversations recorded during criminal probes and published in newspapers, while Milan's role was seen as marginal.
But according to press reports this week, Borrelli has concluded Milan committed "systematic misconduct".
Apparently, Borrelli's report suggests Milan ran an alternative to the Moggi system, which the club used to make sure it, too, was assigned 'friendly' match officials. The press said Milan's situation is now considered to be more serious than that of Lazio and Fiorentina.
In one of the published wiretaps, Milan official Leonardo Meani praises a referee for his handling of a game and even promises that the club's chairman, former premier Silvio Berlusconi, will send him to his hair-transplant doctor in Switzerland.
State prosecutors in four cities are looking at different elements of the alleged web of corruption, which also extends to illegal betting, false accounting, doping and transfer fraud.
