MILAN, July 26 (Reuters) - Inter Milan were awarded the 2005-06 Italian league title on Wednesday in the latest fallout from the country's match-fixing scandal.
The Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) decision to award
Inter their 14th title came after a sports tribunal revoked
Juventus's title win from last season.
Juve also had their title win from 2004-05 revoked but no
replacement winner will be named for that season.
The decision to give Inter their first title since 1989 came
after a sports tribunal handed down guilty verdicts to Juventus,
who had finished top of Serie A, AC Milan who were second and
Lazio and Fiorentina.
'I am fully satisfied by the awarding of the title to a club
and team that behaved correctly,' said Inter Milan owner Massimo
Moratti, who finally gets his hands on the 'scudetto' after 11
years in charge of the club.
Coach Roberto Mancini said: 'I'm happy. Regardless of how it
arrived, it is right to reward those who have given their best
and have always been honest. It is strange to win like this but
we played fair.'
Inter finished third in last season's championship behind
Juventus and AC Milan. They finished 15 points behind Juventus,
who won the title with a record 91 points.
Sandro Mazzola, a key figure in the successful Inter team of
the 1960's, said there was no way that a title won in this
fashion could compare to the victories in his time.
'This title can't be compared to the ones that I won, they
were different wins in different seasons. Those were other times
but now what has happened has happened and there is a league
table with Inter in top spot and so it was normal that the award
went to Inter,' he told the Italian news agency Ansa.
'But the fans should be doubly happy -- for the title but
also because Inter didn't get themselves involved in certain
situations,' Mazzola said referring to the scandal.
Inter should have a very good chance to win their next title
in the coming season with Juventus relegated to Serie B and
Milan starting the campaign on minus eight points.
The FIGC said it had made the decision after commissioning a
three-person committee of experts to give their recommendation.
On Tuesday, a FIGC appeals court confirmed Juventus's
relegation to Serie B where they must start the new season with
minus 17 points and their loss of the titles they won in the
last two seasons.
Juventus have said they will continue to appeal to other
courts.
AC Milan, who had said they should be given the last two
Serie A titles having finished second, retained their top flight
status but were docked eight points at the start of the season.
