Italian authorities hand down match-fixing bans

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have handed down lengthy bans to several players found guilty of match-fixing.

The news follows the conclusion of a far-reaching investigation into the third such controversy to engulf Italian football in recent years after the Calciopoli and Scommesopoli scandals.

Massimo Ganci, a former Bari striker who is currently contracted to third-tier outfit Frosinone, has received the harshest punishment from the FIGC in the form of a four-year ban from football.

Torino goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet, 34, and 29-year-old free agent Gianluca Galasso have also been slapped with lengthy sanctions, having being been prohibited from competing for three years and seven months.

Former Italy Under-21 internationals Davide Lanzafame and Giovanni Marchese were among nine players to plea-bargain, receiving reduced bans of 16 months and three months respectively.

A range of other bans of varying severity have been meted out, with several players and other football professionals among those punished, including former Roma winger Stefano Guberti, who had already been implemented in the Scommesopoli investigation and banned for three years.

Bari, meanwhile, have been deducted one point ahead of the next Serie A season for their role in the scandal.