Italy's football prosecutor on Thursday ordered Serie A clubs Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina to stand trial in the nation's biggest sports scandal in a quarter of a century.
The teams, among the elite of Italian football, could be thrown out of the top league if found guilty in a match-fixing sports trial starting next week in Rome's Olympic Stadium.
In a brief statement, the Football Federation said its prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, had charged a total of 30 "subjects" for sporting fraud and violating fairness and probity, charges that can be punished by fines, bans and relegations.
Other than the four clubs, the statement did not name any others who will face charges in a trial that the Federation has said will end by July 9 -- the date of the World Cup final.
The statement was issued little more than an hour after Italy's national side secured a place in the second round of the World Cup by beating the Czech Republic 2-0.
In a reminder of how the affair bridges Italy's favourite sport and finance, the FIGC was asked not to release the news during market trading hours to prevent disorderly trading in shares of Juventus and Lazio.
Since the scandal broke in early May, Juventus shares have lost half their value. Trading was temporarily suspended on Thursday ahead of the prosecutor's announcement after the stock shot up 10 percent.
