Intercepted telephone conversations revealed Meani complaining to the official in charge of assigning linesman to Serie A matches about a linesman he selected after Milan lost to Siena in April 2005.

"There is not a single fact in the world that proves Galliani approved of Meani's conduct," De Luca said.

Omission was not an offence, he continued, before insisting on the club's honesty as well as its glorious history.

"AC Milan has brought this federation, of which you (the judges) are also a part, many, many trophies. We will be respectful of your decisions. But we are proud to be Milan," he declared to the hearing.

Milan's owner is ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi who has said the investigation is part of a campaign against him.

Lawyers for Fiorentina deposited bundles of notes with the judges, saying they proved their clients should be cleared.

Lazio president Claudio Lotito said he would go all the way to the civil courts to appeal against the verdict if his club was found guilty of sporting fraud.

Giorgio Merlone, a lawyer for Pierluigi Pairetto, an Italian Football Federation official who ran a draw for allotting referees to matches, accused the prosecutor of going too far.

"In its report, the investigator's office spoke of the 'mere suspicion' that the draw was fixed. The federal prosecutor has transformed this suspicion, as if by magic, into a certainty. But for a certainty you need some concrete proof," Merlone said.

The sports tribunal will not hand out penal sentences. A separate magistrates' investigation in Naples has yet to decide whether to press criminal charges against some of the accused.

The scandal broke in May with the publication of intercepted telephone conversations between former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi and Italian soccer officials, discussing refereeing appointments in the 2004-05 season.