Relegation punishment

AC Milan

Relegation call for Italian four

The Italian Football Federation's prosecutor has called for all four clubs at the centre of the match-fixing scandal to be thrown out of Serie A.

Stefano Palazzi called for Juventus to drop two divisions and for AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to drop one.

He also asked for points penalties to be imposed and that Juve's 2005 and 2006 titles be stripped from the club.

And on a bad day for Juve, coach Fabio Capello resigned, paving the way for a return to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Juve's shares dived on the Milan stock market following Palazzi's comments.

Earlier on Tuesday, the third day of Italy's biggest sports trial, Italian Football Federation (FIGC) official Paolo Bergamo resigned.

Bergamo is one of two officials under suspicion involved in the allocation of referees - his lawyer unsuccessfully argued he was now no longer liable to be tried by a sports tribunal.

The sensational events in Rome are taking place as Italy's national team prepare for their World Cup semi-final against Germany.

Thirteen players in the 23-strong Italian squad, including five from Juve, are from the four accused clubs.

The tribunal has been scheduled to run during the remainder of the tournament in Germany and is due to deliver its verdicts before the World Cup final on 9 July.

Lawyers representing five Serie B teams, who hope to be promoted if the squads are relegated, also want to give evidence.

Judges delayed the case so the representatives of Bologna, Lecce, Treviso, Brescia and Messina could have time to prepare.

This would be a backbreaking financial penalty for the clubs, the loss of international TV contracts, players, stadium attendence and status. Relegation is a major financial hit for a top-ranked European club, and to drop Juventus two leagues could be worth hundreds of millions odf Euros over that time in everything from TV deals to merchandizing sales.