Friday, July 14, 2006

Italian soccer giants Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have all been relegated from Serie A today as the result of the massive Italian football match-fixing scandal, while AC Milan have avoided relegation.

The news came after revelations that Juventus general manager, Luciano Moggi, had telephone conversations with several important figures in Italian football, including Marcello Lippi, the head coach of the Italian national team, during the 2004-05 season which revealed illegal match-fixing, gambling and falsifying financial accounts. The teams were accused of rigging matches by selecting referees, while players, including Italy’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, have also been charged of illegally gambling on matches.