Four football clubs, Juventus, Milano, Fiorentina, and Lazio, some of which are publicly quoted companies, and as many as 26 so far unnamed individuals, have been charged with match fixing and will appear before a special sports tribunal in Rome on Wednesday 28 June. If found guilty as charged possible punishment includes relegation, bans, fines or deprivation of important titles and trophies. Thirteen of the players in Italys 23-man team at the World Cup in Germany play for these four clubs.

The president of the football federation committee looking into the allegations made the announcement after stock markets had closed and after Italy won its important World Cup match against the Czech Republic 2-0.