An Italian civil court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by the former Juventus director at the centre of a massive scandal that has seen the club demoted to the second division.
The Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR) turned down Luciano Moggi's appeal against a five-year ban on working in football imposed on him by the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC).
Moggi was banned and fined by the FIGC because he was allegedly the main culprit in moves to get 'friendly' referees assigned to some clubs' games.
The Lazio TAR, which has jurisdiction over soccer disputes, also rejected former Juventus CEO Antonio Giraudo's appeal against his five-year ban.
The decisions may be a bad sign for Juventus, which announced Monday that it will appeal to the same court against its relegation to Serie B and a 17-point penalty. The TAR has the power to overrule the sporting tribunals, but experts have said the Moggi and Giraudo sentences may give an indication of how it will look on the Turin club's case.
By taking the matter beyond the realm of sporting justice - in defiance of the FIGC - they say Juve risks seeing its punishment made even stiffer, if the appeals to the civil courts fail.
The club's lawyers, on the other hand, are taking comfort from the fact that the TAR rejected Moggi's and Giraudo's appeals because of a technicality - that sporting justice has not yet run its full course.
Moggi's lawyer, Paolo Trofino, said the ruling was "not negative" for his client, adding that he will now appeal to the Council of State, Italy's top administrative court, and to the European Court of Justice. Juventus - which was also stripped of the 2005 and 2006 titles - claims that the FIGC is making it a scapegoat for all the ills of Italian football.
It was the only one of the five clubs found guilty of involvement in the match-rigging scandal to be relegated. The others, Fiorentina, Reggina, Lazio and AC Milan, have been allowed to stay in the top flight and given penalties of 19, 15, 11 and eight points respectively.
Pundits fear Juventus' appeal to the Lazio TAR could further delay the start of the upcoming Serie A season.
The championship kick-off has already been postponed once, from August 27 to September 9, to allow the clubs time to appeal to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). On Tuesday CONI - the body that regulates all sport in Italy - announced that former FIGC Chief Franco Carraro had
presented an appeal against an 80,000-euro fine for his alleged role in the scandal.
