Eight Italian Serie A match officials are expected to face criminal charges after prosecutors wrapped up the Naples end of the Calciopoli match-fixing probe Thursday.

Seven referees and one assistant ref were among 48 people issued with notification that they are suspected of being part of a "criminal organization" at the end of the investigation, the local media reported.

This is standard procedure before charges are pressed.

Former Juventus directors Antonio Giraudo and Luciano Moggi - the man suspected of being at the center of moves to arrange "friendly" refs for some teams - were among the suspects too.

So were former referee-appointers Paolo Bergamo and Pier Luigi Pairetto - suspected of fixing match-official draws for Moggi - and Innocenzo Mazzini, the former Vice President of the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC).

The publication of wiretaps of incriminating conversations involving Moggi and other top figures triggered Calciopoli, Italian soccer's biggest ever scandal, last May. The conversations were recorded by Neapolitan investigators.

As a result, the FIGC relegated Juventus to Serie B, stripped it of the 2005 and 2006 titles and gave it a 17-point penalty - later reduced to nine points on appeal.

Lazio, AC Milan, Reggina and Fiorentina were also found guilty of misconduct by the FIGC. Lazio and Milan were given three- and eight-point handicaps respectively, while Reggina and Fiorentina were docked 15 points.

The news that eight match officials risk going to trial is something of a surprise as only one ref, Massimo De Santis, was found guilty of misconduct by the FIGC. De Santis has been banned from refereeing for four years.

Furthermore, four of the eight match officials were not on lists of suspects issued at earlier stages of the probe.

The Italian Referees Association (AIA) said Thursday that it will wait for the official documentation regarding the investigation before deciding whether to suspend the match officials in question.

Source: Xinhua