Milan, Italy - Juventus and the Italian football federation (FIGC) are trying to reach an agreement ahead of a controversial civil court appeal the Turin club have filed against sanctions imposed in a match-fixing affair, Italian media reported Monday.
Juve maintain Italian law allows them to bring their case before an administrative court, claiming damages worth 130 million euros (166 million dollars) as a result of FIGC sanctions.
A sports tribunal in July relegated the team to the second-division Serie B with a 17-point penalty and stripped them of the Serie A titles won in the past two seasons.
AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio were also found guilty and received points penalties, while several referees and club officials were banned for varying periods of time.
Football's world governing body FIFA last week warned FIGC that its World Cup-winning national team and all its clubs could be suspended from international competitions if Juve tried to have the sentence overruled in a civil court.
Juve disregarded FIGC's threat of possible further sanctions and filed their appeal at the administrative tribunal (TAR) of Lazio, which has scheduled a hearing for September 1.
It appears, however, that the club and the federation are seeking an agreement before the date of the hearing, with Juve hoping to avert their first-ever relegation from the top flight and willing to accept a heavy points penalty.
'Our lawyers are talking with FIGC,' Juve president Giovanni Cobolli told La Gazzetta dello Sport. 'At the moment, however, there is nothing new.'
Cobolli Gigli took over the club in mid-June after club managers Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo resigned following their involvement in the scandal.
'We are aware that we deserve to be sanctioned,' he said. 'The point is the disproportion and unfairness compared to the other clubs. Anything can happen between now and Friday, but I do not know if it will.'
An involvement by the Italian government is also being rumoured, although FIGC and the league of football clubs appear set on keeping the matter in their hands.
Among the politicians who addressed the Juventus case is Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, who described the sports sentence as 'exaggerated.'
Paolo Ferrero, the minister of social solidarity, said he noted 'a certain arrogance' in Juve's attitude and disagreed with the idea that the sanctions punished the fans more than the club.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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