Juventus and the other Italian Serie A sides found guilty of taking part in a vast match-fixing ring, last night had their sentences significantly lightened. An appeals panel here ruled that the Turin club at the centre of the most explosive scandal in Italy's footballing history should be relegated to Serie B, as decided earlier this month, but with barely half the points handicap originally imposed.

The sports judges' decision means Juventus could be back in the premier Italian division by the start of the 2007-'08 season.

Silvio Berlusconi's side, AC Milan, which was not facing relegation from Serie A, had been facing the threat of a stiff points penalty that was more than halved. Milan will now qualify for the Uefa Cup next season. The club had been stripped of 44 points, but the total was trimmed to 30.

The relegations of Fiorentina and Lazio were revoked. The two sides will remain in Serie A, but with hefty handicaps of 19 and 11 points respectively that will mean both sides will have to work hard to avoid relegation next season.

The news of the outcome of the appeals was greeted with wild cheering by Lazio supporters gathered outside the Rome hotel were the decisions were announced.

Juventus's lawyer had told the appeals hearing the sentence first given to the club would be a "disaster" for its finances. Lazio and Fiorentina representatives claimed the two clubs had been victims of a system they had no choice but to join.

Since Lazio and Juventus are both publicly quoted companies, yesterday's announcement of the revised sentences was held until after the close of trading on the Milan bourse. But since the jist of the appeal panel's decision was leaked on Monday, the price of Lazio's shares, in particular, has soared. Yesterday, they shot up 17.5 per cent after putting on almost 11 per cent on Monday. Juventus shares had climbed nearly 6 per cent by the close.

On July 14th, just five days after Italy's World Cup victory, a tribunal set up by the Italian federation swept aside protestations that the four teams involved had supplied more than half the players to the Italy squad. It ordered Juventus to be relegated to Serie B with a 30-point handicap that would have had Italy's most historically successful side struggling to avoid a further relegation to the dusty pitches of Serie C1.

Lazio and Fiorentina were also expelled to Serie B, with minus seven and minus 12 points respectively. Milan was allowed to stay in the top division, but stripped of 44 points from last season and given a 15-point handicap for next.

The lower court's rulings have already had an impact on the clubs. Fearing they would be upheld on appeal, some leading players have accepted offers to transfer.

But last night's watering down of the original sentences is bound to generate cynicism inside, as well as outside, Italy. Even before yesterday's judgment was read, the former Perugia chairman, Luciano Gaucci, had predicted the case would end in "un bel nulla di fatto", which roughly translates as "sweet FA". He said: "What has been uncovered is just five per cent of all the woes of (Italian) football - a tiny part."

Gaucci was speaking from Santo Domingo where he fled after prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest on fraud and conspiracy charges.

The match-fixing scandal sprang from criminal inquiries that are still in progress. In the trial held under sports law, Juventus's former general manager, Luciano Moggi, and other club executives were found guilty of of conspiring with referees and linesmen to rig games during the 2004-'05 season.

Evidence supplied to the federation suggested Juventus bosses could arrange for the appointment of friendly officials to particular games.

Meanwhile, Uefa claim the English system for appointing referees is "in breach" of the continental and global statutes for the sport and leaves the Premiership open to a Serie A-style corruption scandal.

The Premier League are stakeholders in Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), the body which oversees the appointment of referees, a position which Uefa regards as illegal. The organisation's director of communications, William Gaillard, said: "Referees should be appointed completely independently of clubs and leagues. Leagues not complying with that are in breach of Uefa and Fifa statutes. The PGMO is a breach of these statutes."

The Premier League insist PGMO operates at arm's length from them, with PGMO general manager Keith Hackett the man in sole charge of refereeing appointments. ...