Outgoing Moggi set to face Italian prosecutors

Rome, May 15 : Luciano Moggi, the official at the centre of Italy's match-fixing investigations, will face public prosecutors today in Rome.

Moggi announced yesterday, shortly after Juventus clinched their second successive Serie A title, that he was resigning from his position as general manager of the Turin club.

Last week the entire board of the 29-times Italian champions resigned en masse after intercepted telephone conversations featuring Moggi were published in the press.

In the conversations Moggi discussed specific refereeing appointments with senior Football Federation officials and bragged about locking a referee in the changing room after a game in which the official awarded a penalty against Juventus.

''Now I will think only about defending myself from all the malice that has been said about me,'' Moggi said during his brief, televised, resignation statement yesterday.

The content of the telephone taps totally overshadowed Juve's title win yesterday with Italy's outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns rivals AC Milan, saying the scandal meant that his club, who finished second in the past two seasons, should be awarded the last two titles.

If found guilty of involvement in match-fixing -- even attempting to influence results -- Juve could be stripped of their last two titles and demoted to Serie B.

Public prosecutors in Naples have placed under investigation 41 people, including Moggi, other club officials, Federation functionaries and referees.

The Federation has opened its own investigation and they have the power to punish clubs and officials for any breach of regulations.

Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini, whose team finished third in Serie A this season, said he believed several Italian seasons had been ''fixed''.

''It is a very serious matter. The most serious ever heard of in the history of world football,'' Mancini said.

Reuters