Court upholds tribunal ruling on former Juventus officials

An appeal by two former top officials of Juventus, who were found guilty of sporting fraud by a football tribunal, was denied Tuesday.

The Lazio regional court ruled there were no grounds to suspend bans and fines imposed by the tribunal against former general manager Luciano Moggi and ex-chief executive Antonio Giraudo, as they had requested.

Moggi's lawyer, Paolo Trofino, said he would go to a higher Italian appeals court and even to the European Court of Justice.

However, Trofino said the Lazio regional court had not ruled on the merits of the case, and could decide later to hear an appeal by Moggi, at the heart of the match-fixing scandal that erupted in May with the publication of tapped phone calls.

Juventus announced it would appeal to the Lazio court over its relegation, a move that could further delay the start of Italy's season which is due to kick off Sept. 10.

The tribunal found Moggi and Giraudo guilty of influencing the appointment of referees on behalf of the club. They had hoped to challenge the conviction in the civil court.

Juventus was stripped of both its past two titles. Four other Serie A teams were penalised over the affair but not as harshly as Juventus and were allowed to remain in the top league.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.