ROME, June 3 (Reuters) - Chievo Verona clinched promotion to the Italian First Division for the first time in their history on Sunday while Venezia sealed their return to Serie A after a year's absence.
Chievo, who played in the regional leagues until the mid-1970s, capped a momentous season with a 2-0 home victory over Salernitana while Venezia won 3-0 at relegated Ravenna.
That gave the Verona side 69 points and Venezia 68. With one match to play, neither team can be caught by fifth-placed Sampdoria, who beat lowly Monza 4-2 and have 63 points.
Chievo and Venezia are promoted alongside Piacenza and Torino, who clinched their Serie A berths last weekend.
Torino beat Cosenza 2-1 on Sunday to go top of Serie B on 70 points to 69 for Piacenza, who were held 1-1 at Pistoiese. At the bottom, Treviso were relegated following a 2-2 home draw with Genoa. They join Monza, Ravenna and Pescara in Serie C1 next season.
Chievo Verona's rise to Serie A is one of the most remarkable success stories in Italian soccer. The club was founded in a suburb of Verona in 1929 but lasted just seven years before financial difficulties forced it to disband.
It was refounded in 1948 and played in the regional leagues until 1975, when it won promotion to Serie D. Chievo won promotion to Serie C2 in 1986 and climbed to Serie C1 three years later.
They won promotion to Serie B thanks to a victory on the last day of the 1993-94 season and have now completed their astonishing climb to the top flight.
Ironically, they might change places with city rivals and former Italian champions Verona, who are second-from-bottom in Serie A and face relegation.
Venezia's promotion comes a year after they went down following two seasons in Serie A. Before that they had played in the lower divisions for over 30 years.
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