Italian trio relegated to Serie B

[ElHenni]

Italian trio relegated to Serie B
Serie A sides Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have been demoted to the second division for their involvement in Italy's match-fixing scandal.

AC Milan will stay in Serie A but will lose 15 points and will be kicked out of the Champions League.

Juventus were also stripped of their last two titles and had 30 points deducted meaning that they are almost certain to stay down for two seasons.

Lazio were penalised seven points while Fiorentina suffered a 12 point penalty.

The clubs will have three days to appeal to the Federal Court.

The FIGC (Italian football's governing body) must hand Uefa the lists of teams that will be involved in European competitions by 25 July, with Juventus, AC Milan and and Fiorentina out of the Champions League and Lazio thrown out of the Uefa Cup.

Inter, Roma, Chievo and Palermo, who finished third, fifth and seventh and eighth are all expected to be the teams taking part in next season's Champions League.

Those directly involved with the scandal were also penalised, with former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi suspended from all football for five years and Adriano Galliani, who was AC Milan vice-president, suspended for one year.

The tribunal in Rome investigated charges that the clubs, their management, football officials and referees tried to influence the outcome of matches by interfering with the appointment of officials.

In May, transcripts were published of telephone conversations between Moggi and Italian Football Association officials, discussing refereeing appointments in the 2004-05 season.

FIGC prosecutor Stefano Palazzi also charged 26 individuals for sporting fraud and violating fairness and probity.

All four clubs implicated denied the accusations.

Thirteen of Italy's World Cup-winning squad play for the clubs involved, with five at Juventus, who also number Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedved and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their ranks.

[ElHenni]

U bring your credit card and i'll bring mine abd meet you in Italy...

[TonyStarks]

Good to hear. This means:

a) Lecce stay in Serie A and our young prospect Hemza Mihoubi will play in Serie A!
b) Manchester United will pick up a few quality players
c) Italian dominance of European competition is over!

[ElHenni]

Just days after being crowned world champions, Italian football faces losing many of its star players following the verdict of the biggest sporting trial in the nation's history.

For their part in the match-fixing scandal, Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B while AC Milan remain in Serie A but begin the season with a 15-point penalty.

Juve, Fiorentina and Milan were thrown out of the Champions League for the 2006-2007 season.

That has alerted Premiership big-spenders like Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, along with La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, who are ready to swoop like vultures to pick up some easy prey.

BBC Sport looks at some of the stars up for grabs.

GOALKEEPERS

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Age: 28, Price: £13m
Underlined his position as the world's best keeper at the World Cup by conceding just once in six games. Became the world's most expensive goalkeeper when Juve paid Parma £33m for his services in 2001
Possible destinations: Arsenal, Inter Milan, Real Madrid

Others:
Dida (32) AC Milan and Brazil
Angelo Peruzzi (36) Lazio and Italy

DEFENDERS

Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan)
Age: 30, Price: £12m
Italy's number 13 has been unlucky to miss out on the latter stages of the finals after picking up an injury against the Czech Republic. When fit he is a fixture of the Italian backline and one of the toughest defenders in world football.
Possible destination: Chelsea

Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus)
Age: 32, Price: ?
Was the outstanding defender at the World Cup and, even at 32, there will be no shortage of takers if he is put on the market.
Possible destinations: Real Madrid, Chelsea

Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus)
Age: 29, Price: ?
Another star of Italy's World Cup campaign, Zambrotta is equally capable of performing on either wing in defence or attack. With his best years ahead of him he is unlikely to spend them in Serie B.
Possible destinations: Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Liverpool

Lilian Thuram (Juventus)
Age: 34, Price: £2m
From a marauding full-back in his heyday, Thuram is more often than not used as a calm and collected centre-half these days. He showed at the World Cup he can still perform at the highest level - and would be a bargain.
Possible destinations: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham, Monaco

Others:
Cafu (36) AC Milan and Brazil
Massimo Oddo (30) Lazio and Italy
Tomas Ujfalusi (28) Fiorentina and Czech Republic

MIDFIELDERS

Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan)
Age: 28, Price: £10m
The defensive lynchpin of the Italian midfield. Strong in the tackle and a leader on and off the field, the one-time Rangers star has pledged to stick with Milan but could be tempted if Manchester United come calling.
Possible destination: Manchester United

Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Age: 27, Price: £25m
The artist in the Italian side enjoyed a superb World Cup. A creator and scorer of goals, there will be no shortage of suitors although as Milan escaped relegation he may be persuaded to stay and his price tag is prohibitive.
Possible destinations: Arsenal

Kaka (AC Milan)
Age: 24, Price: £30m
One of the few Brazilians to emerge from the World Cup with some credit. The Milan playmaker and one-time Chelsea target pushed Ronaldinho to the sidelines to emerge as their key man.
Possible destinations: Real Madrid

Patrick Vieira (Juventus)
Age: 30, Price: ?
Answered questions about his fading engine with some driving displays at the heart of a France side who rolled back the years in Germany.
Possible destinations: Inter Milan, Manchester United, Arsenal, Roma, Real Madrid

Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)
Age: 29, Price: ?
The Argentine-born winger is another of Italy's World Cup winners. A superb crosser of the ball, the only question mark over Camoranesi is his temperament - he was sent off against Arsenal last season
Possible destinations: Inter Milan, Liverpool

Others:
Alessandro del Piero (31) Juventus and Italy
Pavel Nedved (33) Juventus and Czech Republic
Emerson (30) Juventus and Brazil

STRIKERS

Luca Toni (Fiorentina)
Age: 29, Price: £15m
The first player for nearly 50 years to score 30 goals in Serie A took his time to get going at the World Cup, before two against Ukraine in the quarter-finals. At 29 this could be the big striker's last chance to move to one of the world's top clubs.
Possible destinations: Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United

David Trezeguet (Juventus)
Age: 28, Price: £4m
Trezeguet was a peripheral figure in France's run to the World Cup final, but he has always been a reliable goalscorer in Serie A
Possible destinations: Lyon, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus)
Age: 24, Price: ?
Often fails to live up to his billing as one of the world's top strikers and the Sweden player was off-form and injured for the duration of the finals. But the 24-year-old's ability and goal record means there are plenty of admirers out there.
Possible destinations: Inter Milan, Liverpool

Others:
Alberto Gilardino (24) AC Milan and Italy
Filippo Inzaghi (32) AC Milan and Italy