Soccer: Outraged Italian fans take to streets after relegation of clubs

Fans of the three top soccer clubs found guilty in Italy's match-fixing scandal staged street protests after hearing the news that their teams will be playing next season in the second-tier Serie B and the biggest club, Juventus, will appeal.

Bringing to a head the biggest scandal in European soccer for decades, a sports tribunal in Rome sent Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio to Serie B with points penalties. Juve have also been stripped of their 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles.

The fourth club involved, AC Milan, will start their campaign in the top Serie A division next season but with -15 points. The biggest gathering of fans was in Rome, where about 400 Lazio supporters vented their feelings outside the hotel where the tribunal convened to announce its verdict.

In Turin, angry Juventus fans gathered in front of the club's headquarters to shout slogans against tribunal president Cesare Ruperto and AC Milan. In Florence, Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli spoke of his "rage" against the verdicts .

The verdicts were the culmination of a scandal which started in May with the publication of intercepted phone conversations between former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and Italian Football Federation officials discussing refereeing appointments during the 2004-05 season.

Juventus said it would appeal what it described as an "unheard of" decision relegating it to Serie B and deducting points.

Juve will start on -30 points next season, with Fiorentina on -12 and Lazio on -7.

The investigation into match-fixing in Italian football has not involved charges against any players but 13 of Italy's 23-strong World Cup winning squad play for teams who have been found guilty:

Juventus
Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Alessandro Del Piero.

AC Milan
Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Alberto Gilardino, Filippo Inzaghi.

Lazio Rome
Angelo Peruzzi, Massimo Oddo.

Fiorentina
Luca Toni.

- REUTERS