Di Livio, 36, has signed a two-year contract with Serie C2 team Florentia Viola, the club who have replaced fallen Fiorentina as the team of the city of Florence.

The former Juventus midfielder, who has won 40 caps for Italy, was captain of the ill-fated Fiorentina last season.

Fiorentina were relegated from Serie A and have since ceased to exist as a sporting entity after they were refused a place in Serie B due to their acute financial problems.

With the newly-founded club Di Livio will earn less than a tenth of the salary he picked up in Serie A last season, but says pride and loyalty were more important than cash.

'It wasn't a difficult decision. In life there are more important things than money,' Di Livio told the daily Corriere della Sera.

'I didn't want to be remembered as the captain of a team that was relegated and a club that went bankrupt. Florence has shown me so much affection and this is a way to repay that,' added the midfielder.

Di Livio has played one season in Serie C2 in his career -- winning promotion with Perugia in 1988 before moving on to Padova and Juventus.

With Juventus, Di Livio won three Italian league titles and the European Cup in 1996.

His last competitive game was a substitute appearance in Italy's 'golden goal' defeat to co-hosts South Korea in the second round of the World Cup.