CUT PRICE SERIE A PLAYERS?

Four of Italy's top football teams were indicted tonight in a match-fixing scandal that has besmirched a national passion and shaken the stock market.

Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina face relegation from the top flight of Italian football if they are found guilty of rigging matches at a trial to take place next week.

Thirty other football officials, including referees, were indicted for "sporting fraud" but their names were withheld "for reasons of privacy," the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said. They are believed to include Franco Carraro, the former President of the Italian Football Federation, and Adriano Galliani, the manager of AC Milan.

Stefano Palazzi, the FIGC prosecutor, delayed publication of the charges until after the conclusion of the World Cup match between Italy and the Czech Republic.

The Italian team featured five players from Juventus and AC Milan, whose club futures are now in doubt. To the relief of Italian football fans outraged by the corruption scandal, Italy won 2-0 to reach the knock-out stages.

Pippo Inzaghi and Gennaro Gattuso, two of the hero's of today's World Cup performance, play for AC Milan, and three - Fabio Cannavaro, the Italy captain, Gianluca Zambrotta and Gigi Buffon, the goalkeeper - play for Juventus.

A total of 13 players in Italy's World Cup squad are employed by teams implicated in the scandal. All may now be forced to leave their clubs, which will be unable to pay their salaries after losing valuable sponsorship and income from taking part in Europe's top competitions.

The corruption scandal broke last month when newspapers published intercepted conversations between Luciano Moggi, the former general manager of Juventus, and senior officials of the football federation discussing the appointment of referees during the 2004/05 football season.

Italian authorities were put under intense pressure by UEFA, European football's governing body, to conclude the corruption probe before the start of the next football season. The Italian football association has promised to impose sanctions by July 9, the date of the World Cup final.

Signor Palazzi acted after receiving a report on Monday by Francesco Saverio Borelli, a retired magistrate who has conducted an intensive six-week inquiry.

It heavily criticises Juventus, which this season won its 29th league title but stands accused of systematic match rigging. The club faces demotion to Serie B or even C1 -- Italy's third division -- and could be stripped of the Serie A titles it won in the last two seasons.

Guido Rossi, President of FIGC, said Signor Palazzi's decisions to prosecute over the scandal - the worst in the history of Italian football - had been made on Wednesday. But the announcement of his findings was delayed until after the World Cup match and the closure of the Milan stock exchange, on which Juventus and Lazio are quoted.