Sports - Temp

After the high of World Cup victory, Italian soccer has fallen hard _ four top clubs, including powerhouse Juventus, and top officials and referees have been sanctioned for match-fixing.

An Italian sports tribunal demoted Juventus to the second division for the first time in its history and stripped it of its last two Serie A titles on Friday.

Lazio and Fiorentina also were demoted to the Serie B, while AC Milan was spared relegation but penalized 15 points and will not compete in Europe this season.

Of the 26 officials or referees accused in the scandal, 19 received sentences ranging from the maximum five-year ban to a warning; five were acquitted; and two were banned for life without prosecution because they resigned before being charged.

The sentences _ handed down five days after Italy won its fourth World Cup title _ can be appealed within five days to a higher sports court.

Hundreds of fans for Lazio, the capital's other team along with AS Roma, gathered outside a Rome hotel where judges read the verdicts in Italy's biggest sports trial, defending their club's virtue.

''It's a scandal that we were sent to same division as Juve,'' said Massimiliano Rossi, a 29-year-old fan. ''Lazio was innocent.''

Raucous chants rose from the crowd against Lazio president Claudio Lotito, whom fans held responsible for the team's troubles and who received a 3 1/2-year ban; a lawyer for the club was shoved and insulted when he tried to leave the hotel.

''There's still the appeal,'' said Piero Meloni, a 43-year-old fan. ''But if we end up in B I don't see why I should spend my money to go to the stadium.''

Indeed, the scandal is projected to take a financial toll on the clubs involved _ and game-day receipts are the least of their worries. Broadcast rights may need to be re-negotiated for the teams relegated to Serie B, and sponsorship contracts for Juventus may be endangered if it is unable to work its way back up to Serie A in one season.

Thirteen of Italy's 23-man roster that won Sunday's World Cup final belong to the four teams penalized, and already speculation has begun about whether they would transfer because the teams could no longer afford them.

''I have some hopes that some of our most important players will remain,'' said Juventus President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, adding that Real Madrid was inquiring about several players.

''It's obvious that part of our squad will not remain in Serie B. We can't deny them the chance to play in a more competitive league. We have capital, and we can't just give it away.''

Milan released a statement saying it expected the verdict against it would be overturned, calling it ''a grave injustice.''

Besides relegation, Juventus was penalized 30 points, making it more difficult to return to the first division. Fiorentina was penalized 12 points and Lazio seven.

The toughest penalties to individuals were against former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and former Juventus chief executive Antonio Giraudo, who received the maximum five-year ban for match-fixing and disloyalty, with a recommendation to the Italian soccer federation (FIGC) to make it a ban for life.

The pair, who resigned in May along with the club's entire board, were accused of creating a network of contacts with federation officials to influence refereeing assignments and get players booked _ allegations that are at the heart of the scandal.

Other prominent officials convicted in the trial include Franco Carraro, the former head of the Italian soccer league who resigned in May amid the scandal, was banned for 4 1/2 years. He also is a member of the International Olympic Committee. Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle and Lazio president Claudio Lotito were banned for four years and 3 1/2 years respectively.

FIGC chief Guido Rossi, who took over in the wake of the scandal, sought a speedy trial to clean up the game and restore soccer's image as quickly as possible. The trial was completed in just six days, meeting an end of July deadline, the latest date to decide which teams will participate in the European Champions League and the UEFA Cup.

If upheld, Juve will play in the second division for the first time since it was founded in 1897. The Turin-based powerhouse has won 29 league titles _ including the ones stripped by Friday's verdict _ two European Champions League titles, four Italian Supercups, two European Supercups and two Toyota or Intercontinental Cups.

Lazio returns to the Serie B for the first time since the 1987-88 season, while in 2002, Fiorentina was declared bankrupt and forced to play in the fourth division, Serie C2. It won promotion into Serie B by 2003 and returned to the top division the following year.The sports prosecutors had sought harsher penalties for some of the teams, requesting the demotion of Juventus to third-tier Serie C or lower, and of AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to Serie B.Prosecutors in Naples, Rome, Parma and Turin are conducting separate criminal probes into sports fraud, illegal betting and false bookkeeping _ but any indictments could take months. -AP