The fate of the four Italian teams charged with sporting fraud will be revealed tonight after the closure of the Italian stock market but, should Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina be relegated from Serie A, they would automatically be ruled out of next season's Champions League, even if they were to appeal successfully against the demotion. The fourth team Lazio would not be allowed into the Uefa Cup.

"You will know the verdict (today) and the first-degree verdict (the verdict given before the chance of an appeal) could already be enforceable as regards European competitions," Guido Rossi, the head of the Italian FA, said yesterday.

The Italian FA must hand Uefa the lists of teams which will be involved in European competitions by July 27th.

The next Champions League campaign could, therefore, start without Italian champions Juventus - who face the most serious charges and could be relegated to Serie C1 and stripped of their last two league titles - as well as Milan, who came second and Fiorentina, who finished fourth. Roma, Chievo and Palermo would take their places in Europe. The clubs will have three days to appeal to the federal court after the verdict is announced.

Prosecutors have asked for the 29-times Italian champions Juventus to be relegated to the third division, with the other three teams starting from the second division with a points deduction. A lawyer for Juventus said last week that relegation to the second division would be an acceptable sanction, if the Bianconeri are found guilty.

Meanwhile, Fifa have begun disciplinary proceedings against Italy's Marco Materazzi over the incident in which he was head butted by Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final, soccer's world governing body said yesterday.

Fifa said the proceedings opened yesterday following Zidane's remarks on French television on Wednesday night in which he said he was repeatedly insulted by Materazzi.

"As part of the process, Zinedine Zidane will be given the right to be heard by means of a written statement, which must be submitted by July 18th," Fifa said.

"Materazzi will subsequently be sent a copy of the statement so that he can respond to it," they said in a statement.

"Both players have been summoned to attend a face-to-face hearing before the disciplinary committee at Fifa headquarters in Zurich on Thursday, July 20th."

Italy have appointed former AC Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni as their coach to replace Marcello Lippi, who quit on Wednesday after winning the World Cup last week.

Donadoni, who resigned as Livorno coach midway through last season, is highly rated but has limited coaching experience in Serie A and filling Lippi's shoes will be an enormous challenge.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) chose the former Livorno coach, who ended his playing career in the United Arab Emirates, ahead of current under-21 team boss Claudio Gentile.

The Bergamo-born coach began his playing career with his local club Atalanta before joining AC Milan in 1986 and he was a key component of the European and domestic successes enjoyed by the club under the guidance of Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello.

With Milan he won five Serie A league titles and three European Cups before deciding, at the age of 33, to play for the Metrostars in Major League Soccer.

He returned to Milan in 1997 for two seasons before ending his career aged 37 in the United Arab Emirates with Al-Ittihad.

Guardian Service