Serie Scramble

Just when it looks like Italy was cleaning up their tarnished image from a match fixing scandal that has plagued the league for many years, the FIGC has reneged on their punishments of the four involved clubs. Just days after being relegated from Serie A to Serie B, three of the four Italian clubs that were punished had their relegation removed upon appeal. Florentina and Lazio were reinstated to Serie A, but their point penalties were increased (Florentina from 12 to 19, Lazio from 7 to 11). AC Milan is also allowed to stay in Serie A with their point penalty decreased from 15 points to 8 points. Juventus was the largest offenders in the scandal and as a result they will maintain relegation to Serie B but will start with a 17-point deficit instead of the original 30-point penalty. Juventus still has chance with another appeal to be restored to Serie A, but hopefully the FIGC will hold strong and not give any more ground to Italy's most powerful club. Though many of the clubs biggest names have bolted out of Turin due to the relegation, hopefully it will take them awhile to build back their status as a powerhouse. Meanwhile the real losers in this appeals process are Lecce and Treviso who were slated to take the place of Florentina and Lazio as result of their punishment, and now both clubs have to move back to Serie B due to the reinstatement. Ramble On can only hope that Italy will crack down harder on the many scandals that have plague the nation's clubs for years.