Napoli in protest against 2 point match-fixing deduction

Goalkeeper Matteo Gianello is guilty of fixing a match against Sampdoria in 2010 Napoli have lodged an appeal against the Italian Football Federation\'s decision to deduct two points from their current league total, after a former player was convicted of match-fixing. Ex-Napoli goalkeeper Matteo Gianello, now a free agent, was banned for 39 months for trying to fix the outcome of the club\'s match against Sampdoria in 2010. The Federation also fined the club £57,000, but it is the two-point deduction which has riled the club\'s hierarchy.
A strongly-worded statement on the club\'s official website condemned the deduction: \"The president Aurelio de Laurentiis, the head coach Walter Mazzarri and the whole team are calm, being confident that no violation could be attributed to Napoli. The club does not agree with the decisions of the National Disciplinary Committee, considering that they should not be able to irretrievably alter championships that are already in progress. Any decision must be made before the start of a tournament or at the end of it. There has been enough time to evaluate and make a decision since the 2009-10 season.\"
Current Napoli players Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava have also been handed six-month bans for failing to report Gianello\'s wrongdoing. Both will miss the rest of the season, unless they are successful in appeal.
The club is confident it is not responsible, \"we are confident that true justice can be applied to the separate decisions, based on law and equity, not on Justicialism (government intervention).\"
The points deduction leaves Napoli ten points behind Serie A leaders Juventus, moving them down from third to fifth.