Timeline of the Italian football scandal

ROME:  Chronology of Italian football scandal following final appeal hearing here Tuesday:       

May 4, 2006:    Italian papers publish transcripts of phone calls intercepted in 2004 between Juventus general director Luciano Moggi and Pierluigi Pairetto, head of the Italian referees' association and a member of UEFA's referees' commission.   

In the conversations, Moggi tells Pairetto which referees he wants assigned to certain Juventus matches in Serie A and the Champions League.   

The Italian football federation (FIGC) open an investigation.       

May 8, 2006:    After it emerges the FIGC were given the phone tap transcripts by Turin prosecutors back in February and did nothing, president Franco Carraro quits.    Carraro says it is in the best interests of the game with the World Cup a month away and Italy campaigning to stage the 2012 European championships.       

May 11, 2006:     Prosecutors step up their investigation into the dealings of GEA, the largest company of football agents in Italy.    GEA are run by Moggi's son Alessandro, who togther with his father are suspected of alleged abuse of market position, including the use of threats of violence.   

GEA are said to have 41 Serie A players, three Serie A presidents and several high-profile coaches on their books.   

They stand accused of recruiting clients by using intimidatory tactics to swell the number of players under their control, effectively handing Moggi more power to manipulate the league.   

They are also alleged to have put pressure on some players to under-perform when playing against Juventus.    The increasing pressure on Juventus forces their entire board to resign.       

May 12, 2006:    Naples prosecutors formally place four Serie A clubs - Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio - under investigation for alleged match-fixing.    Nineteen matches have been indentified as suspicious.   

Magistrates name 41 people, including Serie A directors, FIGC officials and referees, who they want to question in connection with their probe into sporting fraud.       

May 14, 2006:    Juventus win the Italian league for a 29th time, but their success is tainted by the ongoing scandal that has caused worldwide outrage.   

A tearful Moggi resigns after 12 years at the club, during which time the Turin club have claimed seven Serie A titles.       

May 16, 2006:    Former stock market regulator Guido Rossi is appointed emergency administrator of the FIGC. His task is to oversee the FIGC investigation and repair Italian football's tarnished image.       

May 19, 2006:    Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who features in several intercepted telephone calls in which he talks to Moggi about the national team, is questioned by magistrates.   

They want to know if Moggi had any influence over team selection.    Moggi is suspected of putting pressure on Lippi to leave certain Juventus players out of the team so that they weren't too tired for their club matches.   

Lippi denies he is managed by GEA, for whom his son Davide works.       

June 4, 2006:    Anti-corruption judge Francesco Saverio Borrelli starts to question more than 50 people, including referees, linesmen, club officials and FIGC board members over the affair.       

June 19, 2006:    Borrelli submits a 180-page report to FIGC's disciplinary tribunal prosecutor Stefano Palazzi.       

June 22, 2006:    Palazzi charges champions Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, along with numerous individuals, with sporting fraud and recommends the teams found guilty of direct match-fixing be relegated to the second division.   

A trial in front of a sporting tribunal is set to begin.    The charges are laid on the same day that the Italian national team booked their place in the second round of the World Cup in Germany.       

June 28, 2006:    The Trial opens at Rome's Olympic Stadium       

July 4, 2006    Prosecutors demand heavy sanctions against the clubs involved with Juventus demoted to the third division and AC Milan, Fiorientina and Lazio to the second as well as points deductions for all four   

Juventus coach Fabio Capello resigns. Italy defeat Germany 2-0 in the World Cup semi-finals.       

July 9, 2006:    Italy win the World Cup defeating France 5-3 on penalties in Berlin       

July 14, 2006 :   Juventus relegated to the Italian second division as punishment for being implicated in the country's match-fixing scandal.    They were also deducted 30 points from their total for next season and stripped of their last two league titles.   

Lazio and Fiorentina were also relegated to Serie B and penalised seven points and 12 points respectively.   

However, AC Milan will stay in Serie A but will lose 15 points and will be kicked out of the Champions League.       

July 22, 2006 :   Appeal hearing begins.       

July 25, 2006:   Juventus relegation confirmed but points deduction reduced from 30 to 17 points.   

Lazio and Fiorentina reinstated to Serie A but with handicaps of 11 and 19 points respectively.    AC Milan remain in Serie A but have points penalty cut to eight from 15 points.