Atalanta penalized 6 points in Serie A

Atalanta will start the Serie A season with a six-point penalty for its role in the latest Italian match-fixing scandal, while its captain Cristiano Doni has been banned for three and a half years.

The Italian football federation's disciplinary committee issued the verdicts on Tuesday after a lengthy investigation.

Retired player Giuseppe Signori, a former Lazio captain and Italy forward, was banned from football activities for five years, and Benevento goalkeeper Marco Paoloni, who allegedly drugged his teammates when he was with Cremonese last season, was also banned for five years.

In Serie B, Ascoli was penalized six points and fined €50,000 ($70,000) and Verona and Sassuolo were each fined €20,000 ($28,500).

In the third division, known as Lega Pro, 11 clubs were sanctioned; and two amateur teams were also sanctioned.

The sentences could be revised under appeals as soon as next week.

While the players have threatened to strike unless a new collective contract is signed, Serie A is scheduled to begin the weekend of Aug. 27-28.

Sixteen people, including Signori and Paoloni, were arrested on June 1 for alleged involvement in a match-fixing and betting ring. Some 18 matches - mostly in Serie B and C - are under investigation by prosecutors in Cremona, where the judicial probe is based.

Many more people, including Doni, are under investigation by the prosecutors in Cremona.

Doni, Signori and Paoloni have each maintained they are innocent.

While the Cremona inquiry could take years, sports authorities wanted to issue quicker verdicts before the start of the new season.

Football federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi had requested a seven-point penalty for Atalanta last week.

The latest verdicts come five years after another major match-fixing scandal resulted in Juventus getting relegated to Serie B for a season, plus point penalties for Lazio, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Reggina in Serie A.

Multiple legal cases and appeals from the 2006 scandal are still under way.