Top football teams, officials and referees charged in Italy's match-fixing scandal have declared their innocence ahead of a sports trial that may lead to the relegation of champions Juventus.
Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, as well as 26 individuals including eight referees and two linesmen, have been ordered to appear before a tribunal, starting on June 29th.
The Football Federation (FIFC) announced the charges after Italy secured a place in the second round of the World Cup by beating the Czech Republic 2-0 yesterday.
The combination, as one television commentator put it, was "heaven in Germany and hell in Rome".
Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who plays for Juventus, said the charges would not hurt the national side's chances.
"(The scandal) has not left any mark on us," he said. Thirteen of Italy's 23-man squad at the World Cup play for the four clubs facing charges.
Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, Juventus' ex-CEO Antonio Giraudo and Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani were among those charged, their clubs said.
"Milan has absolutely nothing to do with this scandal, from either a penal or moral standpoint," said former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is Milan's owner and president.
Milan's website said the team had signed a new five-year contract with Brazil midfielder Kaka in what it called a vote of confidence in the future by a club "that has nothing to hide".
Lazio also issued a statement, saying both the team and its president, Claudio Lotito, had nothing to fear from the charges.
Juventus, 29 times champions of Italy, said they would study the charges and reserved the right to defend themselves. But unlike Milan and Lazio, they did not reject the accusations.
The main charges - sporting fraud and violating fairness and probity - can be punished by fines, bans and relegations.
The verdicts will be delivered between July 7th and 9th - the latter being the day of the World Cup final.
La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper said the charge that Moggi sought to influence refereeing appointments to benefit Juventus left the Turin giants in an extremely perilous position.
"It is a terrible accusation, something that could send the club down to Serie C," the paper said.
Moggi will seek exemption from the trial because he quit as Juve's general manager on May 14, his lawyer Paolo Trofino said.
Moggi refused to speak to the FIGC's investigators, and his lawyers cite the case of a former Sampdoria official Emiliano Salvarezza, whose refusal to appear in front of a sports justice trial in 2001 was upheld by a civil court.
Juventus shares, which have lost about half their value since the scandal broke in May, initially bounced higher on short-covering but closed down 0.68 percent at 1.32 euros.
According to media which obtained the prosecutor's charge sheet, all four clubs were accused of "sporting fraud".
