The Italian Football Federation's prosecutor has called for all four clubs at the centre of the match-fixing scandal to be thrown out of Serie A.
Stefano Palazzi called for Juventus to drop two divisions and for AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to drop one.

He also asked for points penalties to be imposed on the four at the start of next season, and that Juve's 2005 and 2006 titles be stripped from the club.

Juve's shares dived on the Milan stock market following Palazzi's request.

Earlier on Tuesday - the third day of Italy's biggest sports trial - Italian Football Federation (FIGC) official Paolo Bergamo resigned.

Bergamo is one of two officials involved in the allocation of referees for games under suspicion - his lawyer unsuccessfully argued he was now no longer liable to be tried by a sports tribunal.

The trial was initially suspended on Thursday and proceedings were again held up on Monday by another round of arguments over legal procedure.

The sensational events in Rome are taking place as Italy's national team prepare for their World Cup semi-final against Germany.

Thirteen players in the 23-strong Italian squad are from the four accused clubs.

The tribunal has been scheduled to run during the remainder of the tournament in Germany and is due to deliver its verdicts before the World Cup final on 9 July.

Lawyers representing five Serie B teams, who hope to be promoted if the squads are relegated, also want to give evidence.

Judges delayed the case so the representatives of Bologna, Lecce, Treviso, Brescia and Messina could have time to prepare.

Football-mad Italy has been gripped by the scandal since it broke in May.

It followed the publication of intercepted telephone conversations in which former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi discussed refereeing appointments with senior FIGC officials during the 2004-05 season.

Other officials on trial include Milan vice president Adriano Galliani, Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle and Lazio President Claudio Lotito. All have denied any wrongdoing.

Chief judge Cesare Ruperto opened the trial on Thursday by reading out the names of the accused to check if they were present.

Moggi, who resigned after Juve claimed their 29th "scudetto" in May, did not attend, while Galliani, the highest-ranking Milan official involved, sat in the first row of the improvised courtroom.

Christian Fraser, the BBC's Rome correspondent, said: "Aside from the four clubs, 26 people will be on trial, including Moggi, the alleged ringleader of a network set up to influence match officials.

"In return for favours on the pitch, he and his fellow director Antonio Giraudo are accused of wining and dining referees and giving them half-price deals for cars made by Fiat, the company controlled by Juve's owners, the Agnelli family."

Meanwhile, former Juve midfielder Gianluca Pessotto - who is not implicated in the scandal - is recovering in hospital after falling from a second-floor window at the club's headquarters.

Pessotto, who was appointed team manager in the wake of the scandal, is in a serious but stable condition.

Eight referees face charges, including Massimo de Santis, who had been set to officiate at the World Cup but was withdrawn after being named in the investigation.

The FIGC, which appointed the tribunal, said it expects to have completed its work before 9 July, with appeals due to be heard by 20 July.

That gives the FIGC time before a deadline of 27 July to submit the names of teams to compete in next season's Champions League and Uefa Cup competitions.

If they were relegated, Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina would miss the Champions League and Lazio the Uefa Cup.

If they were only docked points next season, they would still be able to compete.

The football trial is not a criminal proceeding, but prosecutors in Naples, Rome, Parma and Turin have launched separate investigations which could lead to criminal charges against some of those accused in the tribunal.