The four top Italian football clubs found guilty in the Serie A match- fixing scandal will begin their appeals on Saturday, the president of the appeals court said on Tuesday.
Juve, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were found guilty of match-fixing.
ROME: The four top Italian football clubs found guilty in the Serie A match- fixing scandal will begin their appeals on Saturday, the president of the appeals court said on Tuesday.
Juventus filed its appeal late on Monday, arguing that the sanctions imposed by a sports tribunal Friday were excessive. Juventus was demoted to Serie B and stripped of two Serie A titles. Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan also confirmed on Tuesday that they would appeal their punishments. The appeals hearing will begin Saturday, the Italian football federation said.
Fiorentina and Lazio were also demoted to Serie B. AC Milan escaped relegation but was thrown out of European competition and ordered to start their next campaign minus 15 points.
Piero Sandulli, the president of the appeals court, defended the work of the sports tribunal, which prohibited witnesses and video evidence, leading to accusations that it had failed to give the accused the means to defend themselves. "I don't agree with those who argue that during the sports tribunal there were limitations in the defense rights," Sandulli said. "We are in a judicial situation that the clubs accepted and agreed to in the moment they signed up" to be part of the Italian Football Federation.
The sports tribunal opened on June 29 and delivered its verdicts on July 14. The appeals process is expected to move much faster but is unlikely to finish by July 25, the deadline set by UEFA for the Italian Football Federation to submit the list of teams to compete in next season's European club competitions.
If the process remains incomplete on July 25, the federation commissioner, Guido Rossi, has said that Italy's list to UEFA would reflect the verdicts of the sports tribunal. In that case, Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina would lose their places in the Champions League, making way for Roma, Chievo Verona and Palermo.
In its ruling, the sports tribunal also sanctioned 19 former officials and referees for influencing the outcome of matches.
Prosecutors have said they intended to resubmit their original recommendation for tougher sentencing, the football federation confirmed. They want Juventus demoted to Serie C and AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio demoted to Serie B with larger points reductions.
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