The Italian clubs caught up in the match-fixing scandal have had their punishments reduced on appeal.

Juventus’ demotion to Serie B was upheld, but they will now start on minus 17 points rather than the original 30 point deficit.

Lazio and Fiorentina have been reinstated to Serie A – but with points deductions increased; from 12 to 19 for Fiorentina from 12 to 19 and Lazio from 7 to 11.

Milan stay in Serie A, with their penalty cut from 15 points to eight, and they have also been allowed to enter the Champions League at the qualifying stage.

But the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) sports court upheld the decision to strip Juventus of their last two Serie A titles. The court also confirmed the five-year bans for former Juventus executives Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo.

Moreover, Juventus and Fiorentina were told they must play their first three home games of the 2006-07 campaigns at neutral grounds. Lazio were given a two-match stadium ban and Milan one match.

Juventus are now the only one of the four implicated clubs to be demoted to Serie B, and the club immediately said on Tuesday evening they would appeal againstthe new sanction.

Juve’s club lawyer Cesare Zaccone described the appeal court’s decision as “incredible.”

And club chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli said: “We absolutely cannot accept this sentence. For this reason we have decided to push our case in every possible forum.”

Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle also threatened to use the civil courts to overturn the verdict.

“It’s the first step,” he said. “We haven’t done anything and we will go down every avenue to clear our name.”

“We won a place in the Champions League on the pitch and we will keep going until they give it back to us.”

Lazio president Claudio Lotito added: “I’m not satisfied at all. Lazio has not broken any rule. The fact that we will not be taking part in the Uefa Cup is not in line with the truth.”

Milan, inevitably given their relatively lenient sentence, were the only one of the four clubs to accept the punishment.

“For a club that asked for a complete annulment (of the tribunal’s sentence) it cannot be considered a victory,” said their lawyer Leandro Cantamessa.

“But bearing in mind the tribunal’s sentence, which was like being in front of a firing squad, this is much better.

“We are in the Champions League, otherwise I would not even be moderately happy”.

Uefa has extended its own deadline for for submitting the teams which will play European football this season – to allow Italy to resolve the saga.

Now Italy’s representatives in the Champions League will be Inter, Roma, Chievo and Milan. The Uefa Cup teams will be Palermo, Livorno and Parma.

Lecce and Treviso, the bottom two clubs in Serie A last season, were reinstated to Serie A along with 18th-placed Messina after the original verdict, but they will now be relegated.