There is a scandal brewing after two Castel di Sangro players confessed their 3-1 defeat to Bari in June 1997 was fixed “by the club.”

The story of their surprise ascent into Serie B became the subject of a book, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by American author Joe McGinniss, which had also hinted at shady goings-on in the team.

Now La7 television programme Non e l’Arena has published two interviews which confirm the 3-1 defeat to Bari on June 15, 1997 was fixed.

Armando Izzo’s agent is confident “justice will prevail” after the Genoa defender was given an 18-month ban.

The 25-year-old was found guilty, on first ruling, of failing to report match-fixing during his time at Avellino, with the Serie B club also given a three-point deduction.

“The 18 months comes from failing to report, not from having committed the crime,” Paolo Palermo told Tuttomercatoweb.

Armando Izzo is “terrified of losing everything” after a prosecutor requested a six-year ban for the Genoa defender.

The 25-year-old is under investigation in relation to alleged match-fixing by the Camorra during the 2013-14 Serie B season.

Izzo, who was called-up by Italy in November 2016, was at Avellino when matches against Reggina and Modena were allegedly fixed, though he has always maintained his innocence.

An investigation has been opened after a flurry of bets were placed on a Frosinone red card and Mirko Gori was dismissed against Napoli.

The Ciociari were already relegated ahead of Saturday’s match at San Paolo, and the midfielder was dismissed 13 minutes into a 4-0 defeat.

Gori pulled Lorenzo Insigne's shirt, then said something to the referee who sent him off for dissent.

Sassuolo senior and youth teams attended a workshop organised to combat the threat of match-fixing in football.

Italian authorities are trying to clamp down on irregularities after several high-profile cases.

Today Sassuolo took action when the club hosted a workshop against match-fixing organised by the Lega Serie A and Sportradar.

More clubs are expected to take part in the travelling seminar.

It’ll also serve to alert players on what action to take if they do hear about or are approached by someone promoting a fix.

Andrea Ranocchia assures a match-fixing trial that Antonio Conte did not urge Bari to lose against Salernitana.

Current Inter and Italy defender Ranocchia was giving testimony today in the investigation into the Serie B game Salernitana 3-2 Bari on May 23 2009.

“It was a perfectly normal game against Salernitana and nothing strange happened,” said Ranocchia.

“If anything, it was a fiery game, as all of those played in the south are, and I even scored a goal.

Italy CT Antonio Conte will face a preliminary hearing over match-fixing links on February 18.

It was revealed in June that the Coach could face trial for alleged sporting fraud, relating to his time at Siena.

Today La Repubblica reports that the preliminary hearing will take place on February 18, 2016, with former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and Lazio’s Stefano Mauri also having cases heard.

Former defender Carlo Gervasoni reveals how he organised match-fixing and why he turned witness on others.

Gervasoni is the key witness in the Calcioscommesse investigation and spilled the beans on television to Italia 1 as well.

“I fixed around a dozen games where I was on the pitch, then tried to fix others where I wasn’t playing. It’s complicated to give an exact number of the players I contacted for match-fixing, because there’s still a trial on-going, but I more or less managed to contact 60.

Catania remain in Lega Pro but from -9 points rather than -12 after their appeal in the match-fixing trial.

The Sicilians were demoted to Lega Pro after only managing to stay in Serie B thanks to some late victories that proved to be suspicious.

Initially they were also docked 12 points, but that was reduced to nine on appeal.

Ex-President Antonino Pulvirenti gave up his appeal, so will be banned from all football activity for five years.

The FIGC has announced it will hear Catania’s appeal against demotion to Lega Pro on Thursday.

The Elefanti have been demoted from Serie B and slapped with a 12-point penalty after a match-fixing scandal, but are appealing the ruling.