The Italian Referees Association (AIA) banned seven refs and two line assistants who are suspects in the criminal probe into the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal on Thursday.
The match officials are among 48 people who could face criminal charges following the conclusion of the Naples end of the investigation last week.
Only three of the refs - Paolo Bertini, Gianluca Paparesta and Tiziano Pieri - and the two assistants are still in action. The other four referees have retired.
Calciopoli re-erupted last Thursday when Naples prosecutors revealed that previously unsuspected match officials and games from the 2004-05 season were in the spotlight.
In total eight referees and 10 ref assistants, as well as a number of retired match officials, were on the list of 48 suspects.
This was a surprise because only one ref, Massimo De Santis, was found guilty of misconduct by the Italian Soccer Federation's (FIGC) Calciopoli tribunals last summer. De Santis has been banned from refereeing for four years.
The prosecutors believe these people were involved in moves coordinated by former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi to arrange favourable treatment for some teams.
The prosecutors reportedly discovered that Moggi gave match officials mobile telephone cards bought in Switzerland so he could talk to them before games without the conversations being traced.
"Having recognized that these people face highly serious criminal accusations, it would prejudice the image of the FIGC and the AIA if they were to continue," said AIA President Cesare Gussoni.
He stressed that the suspensions were precautionary measures, while sporting and criminal justice take their course.
But Gussoni admitted that the evidence of phone calls between Moggi and match officials suggested that "in some cases good faith was lacking".
The AIA has decided not to suspend five refs and eight assistants still in action who are suspected of having only a minor role in the affair.
Moggi and former Juventus managing director Antonio Giraudo are also among the 48 suspects, along with ex referee-appointers Paolo Bergamo and Pier Luigi Pairetto, who are suspected of fixing match-official draws for Moggi.
Former FIGC chief Franco Carraro, former FIGC vice president Innocenzo Mazzini, Lazio Chairman Claudio Lotito and Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle are on the list too.
When wrapping up the Naples end of the Calciopoli criminal probe, the prosecutors announced that 40 matches are under suspicion, 15 more than previously thought.
The 15 new games include several Juventus clashes.
The fresh evidence also allegedly implicates Messina and the Sicilian club's former director of sport, Mariano Fabiani.
Messina was not one of the five clubs the FIGC punished for involvement in Calciopoli last summer.
The FIGC relegated Juventus to Serie B, stripped it of the 2005 and 2006 titles and gave it a nine-point penalty.
Lazio and Milan were given three- and eight-point handicaps respectively, while Reggina were docked 11 points and Fiorentina 15.
Experts say Juventus is in little danger of being penalized again, even though fresh evidence against it has emerged, because the Turin club has already been punished for misdemeanours committed in the 2004-05 campaign.
But Messina and the match officials may well face sanctions, they say.
