Serie A championships were "fixed" says Inter coach

MILAN, May 14 (Reuters) Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini today said that recent Italian Serie A championships had been ''fixed''.

Speaking on the final day of the season, Mancini was quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA as saying: ''It is difficult to make an evaluation when you play in fixed championships, in fact it is impossible.'' Italian soccer has been rocked by a match-fixing scandal which erupted after the publication of telephone conversations between Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and senior football federation officials discussing refereeing appointments during the 2004-05 season.

''I've read of a referee talking about a game from 2001 and now we are in 2006, so you can imagine what I think about all that has happened. It is a very serious matter. The most serious ever heard of in the history of world football,'' said Mancini, whose Inter side finished the season in third place.

Juventus, at the centre of the allegations, won the title with victory over Reggina today, while AC Milan finished second. It was Juve's second consecutive league title.

REUTERS SY BD2222