After the high of World Cup victory, Italian soccer has fallen hard — four top clubs, including powerhouse Juventus, and top officials and referees have been sanctioned for match-fixing.

An Italian sports tribunal demoted Juventus to the second division for the first time in its history and stripped it of its last two Serie A titles yesterday. Lazio and Fiorentina were also demoted to the Serie B, while AC Milan was spared relegation but penalised 15 points and will not compete in Europe this season.

Of the 26 officials or referees accused in the scandal, 19 received sentences ranging from the maximum five-year ban to a warning; five were acquitted; and two were banned for life without prosecution because they resigned before being charged.

The sentences — handed down five days after Italy won its fourth World Cup title — can be appealed within five days to a higher sports court.

Hundreds of fans of Lazio, the capital’s other team along with AS Roma, gathered outside a Rome hotel where judges read the verdicts in Italy’s biggest sports trial, defending their club’s virtue.

Raucous chants rose from the crowd against Lazio president Claudio Lotito, whom fans held responsible for the team’s troubles and who received a 3 1/2-year ban.

“If we end up in B, I don’t see why I should spend my money to go to the stadium,” said Lazio fan Piero Meloni.

Indeed, the scandal is projected to take a financial toll on the clubs involved — and game-day receipts are the least of their worries. Broadcast rights may need to be re-negotiated for the teams relegated to Serie B, and sponsorship contracts for Juventus may be endangered if it is unable to work its way back up to Serie A in one season.

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