The presiding judge in a tribunal considering match-fixing charges against four top Italian soccer teams has adjourned the trial until July 3rd to give five second-tier squads time to prepare their cases.
Tribunal president Cesare Ruperto told the accused, gathered in a room in Rome's Olympic Stadium, that the nation's biggest-ever sports trial would resume on Monday.
The tribunal is considering match-fixing charges against Serie A champions Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, as well as 26 senior officials, referees and linesmen.
The tribunal agreed to allow five Serie B teams - Bologna, Lecce, Treviso, Brescia and Messina - to take part and adjourned to give them time to present their cases.
The charges are based on hours of intercepted telephone conversations between leading soccer officials that appear to show them trying to influence the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) appointment of referees.
FIGC, under emergency leadership since the scandal broke in May, is running the trial and has said it will rule by July 9th, the date of the World Cup final, and that appeals would be heard by July 20th.
That would give FIGC time before a deadline of July 27th to submit the names of teams to compete in next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions.