MILAN, Italy -- The Italian team Reggina lost its appeal of
soccer federation sanctions in the latest ruling stemming from the
country's game-fixing scandal.
A sports tribunal also upheld a 2½-year ban from soccer for
Reggina president Lillo Foti, the Italian soccer federation said
Saturday.
Reggina, which finished 15th in Italy's top league last season,
was docked 15 points by a federation sports court Aug. 17 for
allegedly trying to have cooperative referees assigned to the
team's games.
Reggina called Saturday's ruling "wrong and unjust, and
detrimental to sporting rights, to the rights of the club, of the
city and of the fans." The team said it intends to continue its
appeal.
The appeals tribunal reduced sanctions against Serie B team
Arezzo from nine penalty points to six for allegedly seeking favors
from referees, the federation said. Arezzo finished seventh in the
second division last season.
The scandal has resulted in penalties or relegation for four of
Italy's top soccer clubs.
Juventus was stripped of its last two Serie A titles and
relegated to Serie B with a 17-point penalty for next season.
Fiorentina and Lazio start next season banned from European
competition and minus 19 and 11 points, respectively. AC Milan was
allowed to play in the Champions League but was docked eight
points. The four teams have appealed their sanctions.
Italy's soccer season already has been delayed by two weeks
because of the scandal. Serie A and B are to start Sept. 9-10.
Prosecutors in Naples, Rome, Parma and Turin also are conducting
separate criminal investigations into sports fraud, illegal betting
and false bookkeeping. Any indictments could take months.