Paddy Agnew reflects on the 'Footballgate' scandal that has rocked Italian league football

Just one week after winning the World Cup, Italian football seems destined for an acrimonious and uncertain future as it comes to terms with the heavy sanctions imposed last Friday by a Football

Federation tribunal with regard to the so-called "Footballgate" match-fixing scandal.

Serie A giants Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina as well as officials such as former Juventus CEO Antonio Giraudo and international referee Massimo De Santis last weekend said that they would be appealing Friday's verdict in a federation appeals hearing later this week. The Football Federation is keen to wrap up the investigation and arrive at a final verdict before July 25th in time to meet a Uefa deadline for naming Italy's representatives in the Champions League and Uefa Cup.

In Friday's ruling, Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were all relegated to Serie B, Juventus were stripped of their 2004-'05 title, AC Milan stay in Serie A but with a 15-point penalty whilst a number of officials and referees received lengthy suspensions. Given the revised league table, Inter Milan, AS Roma, Chievo and Palermo will now play in the Champions League whilst Livorno, Parma and Empoli could start in the Uefa Cup.

As of now, it is not certain if next season's Serie A will be a 20 or 18-club league. If it remains at 20, as it has been for the last two seasons, then Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio will simply be replaced by the three sides which were relegated last May, namely Messina, Lecce and Treviso. The three sides which won promotion from Serie B last season, Atalanta, Catania and Torino, are certain to stay up.

By handing down harsh sentences, the tribunal judges would appear to have accepted the basic thesis of the federation prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi. Namely that a "cupola" or gang of six - Juventus general director Luciano Moggi, Juventus CEO Giraudo, former federation vice-president Innocenzo Mazzini, referee De Santis, refereeing officials Pierluigi Pairetto and Paolo

Bergamo - systematically combined to fix not just the occasional match but the outcome of the entire Serie A championship.

The tribunal's ruling states: "The nature of this sports felony is that it was perpetrated with continuity throughout the season with the final aim being that of obtaining an advantage in the (final) league table for Juventus through direct or indirect control of referees. From the disciplinary viewpoint, this felony is thus much more serious than any action intended to alter the course or result of just one single game."

Significantly, all the members of the so-called "cupola" received heavy suspensions with Moggio, Giraudo and Mazzini being banned for five years, De Santis for four years and six months and Pairetto for two years and six months. The court's ruling applauds the way Juventus handled its defence (basically admitting guilt), pointing out that the club has already acknowledged the error of its ways by sacking its entire board and setting about a process of internal renewal. However, new Juventus president Giovanni Cobelli Gigli promised that the club would appeal the verdict.

In Friday's ruling, not only were Juventus relegated to Serie B but they were also penalised 30 points for next season, whilst Fiorentina start at minus 12 and Lazio at minus seven. The 30-point Juventus penalty, if confirmed in the appeals hearing this week, would mean that, de facto, the club would have to spend two seasons in the second division.

Gigli appeared to suggest that while the club will accept relegation, Juventus feel the points sanction and a consequent two-year stay in Serie B is too harsh. In contrast, Lazio and Fiorentina are certain to argue that they do not merit relegation with the club owners, Claudio Lotito and Diego Della Valle, contesting their respective three- and four-year suspensions.

Whilst many prominent figures such as Fulvio Collavatti and Antonio Cabrini had called for harsh sentences, not everyone agrees. Justice Minister Clemente Mastella argued that the verdicts were too harsh.

One thing seems fairly clear following the ruling. A "fire sale" of Juventus players, eight of whom featured in the World Cup final in Berlin, is now under way. Players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Mauro Camoranesi, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet and Patrick Vieira are unlikely to stay with the club in Serie B. Only team captain, Alessandro Del Piero seems destined to stay.