The Italian football club Calcio Catania, which narrowly avoided relegation from Serie B at the end of last season, is facing the prospect of demotion to the Lega Pro and the deduction of five points following the uncovering of match-fixing at the club. The National Football Federation’s (FIGC) Federal Prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, publicly announced his recommendations against the club on Tuesday 11 August after a hearing by the Federal Court in Catania. Palazzi’s recommendations are currently being considered by a tribunal of the FIGC, chaired by Sergio Artico, which is set to announce its decision and the official sentence within the next few days – reportedly on Wednesday 19 August. The sentence needs to be finalised before the fixture lists for the Italian second and third divisions are released on 27 August. The Lega Pro, Italy’s third division, is due to start on 6 September.

The FIGC began questioning Antonino Pulvirenti, the former President of Catania, about his involvement in fixing games on 28 July. As reported by the Sports Integrity Initiative, he resigned on 2 July after admitting his role in fixing matches, and has since put the club up for sale. The full FIGC charge sheet, available in Italian here, lists the former club President as ‘head and promoter’ of the match-fixing operation.

The FIGC referred Pulvirenti, alongside the former CEO of Catania, Pablo Cosentino, as well as Piero Di Luzio, at the time contracted with Genoa Cricket Football Club, and Fernando Antonio Arbotti, a former football agent, to the Disciplinary Commission of the Federal Court on Wednesday 29 July. The FIGC also notified the club Catania that it would be charged with ‘direct and objective liability’ for the actions of its executives.

The prosecutor Palazzi has reportedly asked for a more lenient sentence for Catania under Article 24 of the FIGC’s Code of Sports Justice. The article states that if those charged collaborate with authorities through admitting responsibility for its actions and actively cooperating with the parties subject to disciplinary proceedings, the penalties can be reduced on a proposal from the Federal Prosecutors.

Palazzi announced that in his recommendations he had shown lenience due to the fact that Catania so far had chosen not to appeal against any ruling, that the club had reportedly cooperated fully with the Federal Prosecutors and that Pulvirenti had confessed fully to his actions whilst President of the club. Information on the names of the players involved and the culpability of senior managers (including the former CEO Cosentino) was reportedly also readily passed onto the prosecutors. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the main concern for the deliberating tribunal is the extent and culpability within the wider club of Catania, not just those individually indicted in this case.

‘Collaboration is always rare and therefore deserves special evaluation of rewards,’ Palazzi told reporters in justifying the reduced demand. Palazzi has also suggested that Pulvirenti be banned from stepping foot inside a football ground for the next five years. The former football agent Antonio Arbotti was reportedly acquitted while for the former CEO Pablo Cosentino and manager Piero Di Luzio, Palazzi recommended that they be banned for 5 years – three years if they continue to collaborate – and a fine of €60,000.

Antonino Pulvirenti told reporters that this would be his ‘first and last time’ in a sporting tribunal as he would be leaving the world of football for good following these events. He said that he had ‘collaborated right from the very beginning’, which he said he was grateful to Palazzi for taking into consideration. Pulvirenti told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he had been in a position where he was being threatened constantly, receiving bullets and death threats in the post to him and his family, and that he only conspired to fix matches out of fear of his own life.

UPDATE: The tribunal of the FIGC, chaired by Sergio Artico, confirmed on Thursday 20 August that Catania have been demoted to the Lega Pro, the third tier of professional Italian football. Catania will also start the 2015/16 season with a twelve-point deduction, as well as having to pay a €150,000 fine.