New Delhi: The World Cup win is not the only football news that is making the headlines in Italy these days.
There is a verdict awaited on the match-fixing scandal in the Serie A and it will affect many players who were only recently celebrating their country's fourth World Cup title according to a report in the Gazetta dello Sport newspaper.
Thirteen of the 23-man Italian squad that won Sunday's World Cup final against France belong to the four teams involved.
Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio will be relegated to Division II while AC Milan will stay in Serie A, although they won't be allowed to take part in the Champions League.
Milan will also be docked 10 to 15 points from their campaign and Juventus will start with a 20 point disadvantage.
The teams will have three days to appeal before a federal court of arbitration and a final decision will be given by July 24.
Juventus are at the centre of the scandal, which erupted in May when phone taps revealed the club's former general manager Luciano Moggi had discussed refereeing appointments with officials from the Italian Football Federation.
Twenty-five soccer officials - including referees - also face charges of match-fixing and disloyalty at the sports tribunal set up at Rome's Olympic stadium. The officials face being barred from all football related activities.
The trial opened on June 29 and came to an end two days before the FIFA World Cup final. A panel of seven judges has since been deliberating behind closed doors.
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 to be issued.
The man at the center of the scandal, former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, remained defiant.
"I don't feel guilty of anything. We"ll see what comes out," Moggi said in comments aired on Thursday night by Sky TG24 television news. "I'm not ashamed."
Moggi and former Juventus chief executive Antonio Giraudo are accused of creating a network of contacts with federation officials to influence refereeing assignments and get players booked.
The two resigned in May, along with the club's entire board.
Lawyers for Juventus have acknowledged that contacting refereeing officials was unsportsmanlike - but deny match-fixing.
They say that demotion to the second division would be an "acceptable" sanction.
Also on trial is former federation president Franco Carraro - who resigned in May - plus Milan vice president Adriano Galliani, Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle and Lazio president Claudio Lotito.
These officials and clubs have denied any wrongdoing and asked the charges to be dismissed.
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