Juventus officially demoted

Italian giants Juventus failed in their court bid to overturn a sports tribunal's decision to demote them to Serie B after the match-fixing scandal broke just prior to the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.

An appeals court sided with the sports tribunal and demoted Juventus to the second tier competition but did reduce the points penalty imposed on the club.

The sports tribunal had originally docked Juventus 30 points for the start of next season making an immediate return to the Italian top flight almost impossible.

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Juventus will now start with a 17 point handicap in their quest to gain promotion.

The news was better for the other Italian clubs involved in the match-fixing scandal with Fiorentina and Lazio allowed to compete in Serie A next season.

However, Fiorentina will start the new season with a 19 point handicap while Lazio will be minus 11 points when the season gets underway.