An Italian sports tribunal delivered the verdicts late on Friday, punishing Italy's most successful team Juventus with relegation to Italy's second-tier Serie B along with Fiorentina and Lazio.

The fourth club involved, AC Milan, owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was also heavily penalised over Europe's biggest football scandal in decades, starting next season's Serie A campaign minus 15 points.

"Mighty Blow", read the headline of top sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport

"To Hell", screamed a front page column in Italy's leading newspaper Corriere della Sera. It counted 120 hours from Italy's World Cup win to the moment when "two generations of soccer establishment were wiped out".

"I think the verdict was unjust, not all the elements that led to the investigations were properly considered," said Rome resident Fabrizio Caccamo.

Others praised the ruling, saying rough justice was needed to purge the sport of chronic corruption.

"I totally agree with the verdict. Everybody had to pay for what they did, even if Milan was more lucky than the other teams involved," said another fan Marco Rossi.

The scandal broke in May with the publication of intercepted telephone conversations between a former Juventus official and Italian soccer authorities discussing refereeing appointments.

As well as the clubs, the tribunal barred a number of club officials from the game for varying periods.

Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, who was at the centre of the scandal, was banned from the game for five years and ex-Federation president Franco Carraro for four and a half years.

Moggi said there had been no wrongdoing.

"No match was fixed, no referee was pressured," Moggi was widely quoted as saying by the Italian media on Saturday.

The decision also threatens to prompt an exodus of prized players, such as World Cup captain Fabio Cannavaro and goal-keeper Gianluigi Buffon, from famous Italian teams.

Real Madrid, whose new coach Fabio Capello guided Juventus to the two championships they were stripped of on Friday, have made no secret of their interest in picking up Cannavaro and fellow Juventus player Brazilian midfielder Emerson at bargain-basement prices.

The teams are expected to present their appeals in the coming days. The process has to proceed at speed so it can be completed by July 25 -- the UEFA deadline for the Italian football federation to submit their list of teams for next season's Champions League.

Television companies, with lots of money riding on teams now heading for Italy's soccer hinterlands, said they were still waiting for the outcome of the appeals process to decide whether to renegotiate their broadcast rights.

"We've still got to decide. It's only a few days until July 25. We'll decide then," Mediaset Chairman Fedele Confalonieri.