Former Juventus executive has his sentence shortened

Rome, Dec 18 (IANS): Former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi has successfully appealed to cut his five-year, four-month jail sentence in the 2006 Italian match-fixing scandal to two years and four months.

Moggi, yet to serve his term, got the reduction Tuesday because of limitations for one of the charges – sports fraud – expired, reports Xinhua.

Moggi’s lawyer Maurilio Prioreschi said they would file another appeal in the Court of Cassation, Italy’s top criminal court and the final level of justice.

Former referee designator Pierluigi Pairetto and former Italian football federation vice president Innocenzo Mazzini were each sentenced to two years, while former referees Massimo De Santis and Paolo Bertini got 12 and 10 months, respectively.

A judge in Naples ordered a retrial for Paolo Bergamo, another former referee designator.

Fiorentina owners Andrea and Diego Della Valle and Lazio president Claudio Lotito were among those cleared.

In the 2006 scandal that rocked Italian football, Moggi allegedly masterminded a network of contacts with Italian football federation officials to influence refereeing assignments and arrange for key players in other teams to be booked ahead of matches with the Turin club.

Juventus was stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles for its role in the scandal and the club was relegated to Serie B for a season.