Juventus still hoping for Serie A reprieve

ROME, Aug 17 (Reuters) Juventus, demoted to Italy's second division Serie B following a match-fixing trial, are hoping they can still get back into the top flight.

A sports tribunal stripped Juve of their last two Italian titles and demoted them to Serie B where they will start next season minus 17 points.

The Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) conciliation court will meet on Friday to discuss Juve's appeal for a more lenient sentence and the club say they want nothing less than a return to Serie A.

Juventus chairman Giovanni Cobilli Gigli said the Turin club expected the same punishment as three other clubs involved in the scandal, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan, who all kept their places in the top division but with penalty points.

''We have excellent reasons to expect the same treatment -- Serie A with a points penalty,'' Cobilli Gigli told the daily Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Juventus chief has said his club were ready to turn to a regional court if they did not get the judgement and hinted at such a move.

''Friday's meeting is just a step, if we can't reach conciliation then there will be other (steps),'' he said.

The other three clubs and several individuals who were punished by the tribunal are also taking their cases to CONI in the coming weeks.

Juve's demotion has led to a number of top players leaving the club, among them Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, who has gone to Real Madrid and Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, sold to Inter Milan.

Coach Fabio Capello has left for Real Madrid and has been replaced by Frenchman and former Juve player, Didier Deschamps.

Juve's fourth-quarter revenues slumped by almost 23 million euros (29.56 million dollars) to 40.3 million euros.

The club said the uncertain outlook linked to the failure to take part in the Champions League -- Europe's premier club tournament -- and their relegation to Serie B would hurt results in the 2006/07 fiscal year.

REUTERS PM ND1624