An Italian sports tribunal on Friday suspended Lazio captain Stefano Mauri for six months and fined the Serie A club 40,000 euros ($53,000) for their involvement in an illegal betting scandal.

The sentence was relatively lenient as prosecutors had asked for a four-and-a-half year ban for Mauri, who was ­detained for a few days last year in the inquiry.

Prosecutors had also asked for Lazio to be docked six points as a penalty and Genoa and Lecce three points.

In the end Lecce were fined 20,000 euros while Genoa were acquitted entirely of any involvement.

A total of eight players were investigated, one of whom decided to collaborate with investigators.

Out of the six others, three were acquitted.

The three others - Mario Cassano, Stefano Ferrario and Alessandro Zamperini - were given suspensions ranging between four months and two years.

The fallout to the football betting  investigation has been felt since 2011 with several high-profile names implicated.

Italy has a history of match-fixing scandals, although they have tended to precede ­sporting success.

The 1980 "Totonero" scandal saw AC Milan and Lazio relegated to Serie B while star striker Paolo Rossi was banned for two years. He came back just in time to be Italy's hero in their 1982 World Cup victory.

In 2006, Juvetus were relegated and stripped of their 2005 and 2006 titles for interfering with the referees' commission. Just over a month later, Italy won the World Cup.

AFP - Global Times