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| July 01, 2006 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 4, 1427 |
Match-fixing scandal verdict expected after World Cup
ROME, June 30: A tribunal trying four leading soccer clubs and 26 officials on match-fixing charges expects to deliver its verdicts on July 10, after the World Cup ends, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Friday.
Champions Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, as well as 26 senior officials, referees and linesmen, are on trial in Rome's Olympic Stadium for sporting fraud and unfair conduct.
The FIGC previously said the tribunal would finish its work between July 7 and 9, the latter being the date of the World Cup final in Berlin.
The football tribunal abruptly adjourned on its first day of hearings on Thursday, raising questions about whether the verdicts would be delivered by July 9.
“We are expecting the audiences to finish on July 7 or 8, with the tribunal retiring to consider its verdicts on July 9 and verdicts on July 10,” an FIGC spokesman said on Friday.
Clubs found guilty risk deducted points, relegation and being stripped of their titles. Individuals face possible bans.
Those found guilty are expected to appeal.
Delays in the tribunal proceedings could leave the FIGC struggling to meet UEFA's deadline of July 27 to submit its list of teams for next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions, newspapers said.
Local media said the tribunal was in danger of becoming bogged down in the kind of legal objections that forced Thursday's adjournment and which often slow down proceedings in the country's civil courts.
Corriere della Sera called the adjournment a “false start” that “puts at serious risk the possibility of respecting the timetable”.
Corriere dello Sport said “the risk of seeing Italy out of European competition altogether now seems fairly high”.
The lawyer representing AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani, one of the accused, told Reuters it was tough to say how long the trial would last.
“It's difficult to make a prediction because it depends on the number of witnesses who must be heard and the number of questions that must be put to them,” Leandro Cantamessa said.
If the tribunal continued beyond July 10, it could clash with other events at the Olympic Stadium.
Four days later the ground is due to host the Rome Golden Gala athletics meeting, one of the most important track and field events of the year.—Reuters
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