A lawyer for Juventus, the Serie A powerhouse at the center of match-fixing allegations, told a sports tribunal on Wednesday that demoting the club to the second division would be an "acceptable" penalty for its role in the largest soccer scandal in Italian history.
The acknowledgment came amid staunch defenses and partial admissions at an ongoing sports trial that could result in the relegation of some of the country's top clubs.
The prosecution is seeking demotion for Juventus to Serie C or lower, and for other top clubs AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to Serie B. The prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, is also seeking to strip Juventus of the league titles it won in the past two seasons.
The requests were made on Tuesday, hours before Italy beat Germany 2-0 to reach the World Cup final. Italy's squad has 13 players from the four clubs named in the scandal.
Along with the four clubs, 25 soccer officials -- including referees -- also face charges of match-fixing and disloyalty at the tribunal set up by the soccer federation in the press room at Rome's Olympic stadium. The officials risk being barred from holding future positions in the soccer world.
Juventus lawyer Cesare Zaccone acknowledged that former club managers had improper dealings with federation officials, but insisted that these were not attempts at match-fixing.
Asked by lead judge Cesare Ruperto what would be an appropriate penalty for those dealings, Zaccone replied: "An acceptable penalty would be the same one asked for the other clubs, meaning Serie B."
Juventus' ex-general manager Luciano Moggi and former chief executive Antonio Giraudo -- who resigned in May, along with the club's entire board -- are accused of creating a system of corruption that ranged from influencing refereeing assignments to getting players booked.
The prosecution said Moggi and Giraudo had continuous contact with refereeing officials on secure phone lines and at frequent dinner parties organized to manipulate the refereeing system. Moggi has yet to appear at the trial but has denied wrongdoing.
Zaccone said that telephone intercepts presented by the prosecution did not prove that the club officials were seeking to influence the results of matches but that they were only engaged in "lobbying operations" that may have been unsportsmanlike.
Giraudo's lawyer, Luigi Chiappero, told judges "the mere fact these people were meeting and speaking frequently may have been inappropriate" but was no indication that match-fixing was involved.
Other top suspects also defended themselves on Wednesday.
Former soccer federation president Franco Carraro, the highest-ranking official accused in the scandal, denied accusations that he tried to influence referees on behalf of team officials.
Carraro told the court he had contacted referees only when he felt a mistake had seriously marred a match.
In opening remarks on Tuesday, the prosecutor said phone intercepts showed that Fiorentina and Lazio influenced referee appointments and decisions on the field through their contacts with Carraro and other federation officials.
Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle and Lazio President Claudio Lotito acknowledged they had contacted federation officials but added that this was only to protest when they felt they were "victims" of mistakes.
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