News Alerts
Match-fixing penalties lowered
Italy - 14 December, 2006
Adjust font size:
An independent arbitration board dropped a 15 point penalty to 11 for Italian Reggina, a Serie A club that was involved in Italy's match-fixing scandal.
A football federation sports court docked the club in August for allegedly trying to have friendly referees assigned to its games.
The point reduction would raise the club to 19 in the ratings, one place from the bottom.
"Reggina didn't commit any unsportsmanlike activity ... But the team has accepted this challenge from the beginning of the season. We will see if we can get out of it unharmed," Reggina president Lillo Foti was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
Foti's 2 1/2 year ban from football was upheld in the ruling.
The arbitration board, in what is probably the last judgment on the scandal, also upheld the penalty against Serie B club Arezzo.
Arezzo previously had a nine-point penalty reduced to six at an appeals hearing in August but stayed in last place in Serie B.
Arezzo finished seventh in Italy's second division last season and was penalized in August for allegedly seeking favours from referees.
"If this is the new sports justice, there is reason to be appalled. It is a disgrace," Arezzo president Piero Mancini told ANSA. "Arezzo is the only club to pay heavily."
The arbitration board, which was formed by the Italian Olympic Committee, ruled in October on four other clubs involved in the scandal.
Juventus, which was stripped of its 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles, demoted to Serie B, and docked 17 points by a sports tribunal in July, had its penalty reduced to nine points. The Turin club is jointly at the top of the second division.
Lazio, which is fifth in Serie A, had its 11-point penalty reduced to three points and Fiorentina, which is in 16th place, had its 19-point penalty cut to 15.
AC Milan, in 15th position of Serie A, did not have its eight-point penalty reduced.
The rulings, which have undergone two revisions, are expected to be the final verdicts handed out by sports authorities in a scandal that began six months ago.
A football federation sports court docked the club in August for allegedly trying to have friendly referees assigned to its games.
The point reduction would raise the club to 19 in the ratings, one place from the bottom.
"Reggina didn't commit any unsportsmanlike activity ... But the team has accepted this challenge from the beginning of the season. We will see if we can get out of it unharmed," Reggina president Lillo Foti was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
Foti's 2 1/2 year ban from football was upheld in the ruling.
The arbitration board, in what is probably the last judgment on the scandal, also upheld the penalty against Serie B club Arezzo.
Arezzo previously had a nine-point penalty reduced to six at an appeals hearing in August but stayed in last place in Serie B.
Arezzo finished seventh in Italy's second division last season and was penalized in August for allegedly seeking favours from referees.
"If this is the new sports justice, there is reason to be appalled. It is a disgrace," Arezzo president Piero Mancini told ANSA. "Arezzo is the only club to pay heavily."
The arbitration board, which was formed by the Italian Olympic Committee, ruled in October on four other clubs involved in the scandal.
Juventus, which was stripped of its 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles, demoted to Serie B, and docked 17 points by a sports tribunal in July, had its penalty reduced to nine points. The Turin club is jointly at the top of the second division.
Lazio, which is fifth in Serie A, had its 11-point penalty reduced to three points and Fiorentina, which is in 16th place, had its 19-point penalty cut to 15.
AC Milan, in 15th position of Serie A, did not have its eight-point penalty reduced.
The rulings, which have undergone two revisions, are expected to be the final verdicts handed out by sports authorities in a scandal that began six months ago.
Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 -
All rights reserved.
© Copyright message
The copying, republication, redistribution or web posting (including by framing or similar means) of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of euFootball.BIZ
-
Finance
Television
Sponsorship
Marketing
Technology
Competitions
Clubs
Stadia-Facilities
Legal
Administration
Events