Juventus coach Antonio Conte has been suspended for 10 months for his role in a match-fixing scandal, but players Leonardo Bonucci and Simone Pepe have been cleared.

The Italian Football Federation’s disciplinary committee announced the verdicts yesterday. Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi had asked for Conte to be banned for 15 months.

Conte, who led Juventus to the Serie A title last season, was punished for failing to report match-fixing in two games during the 2010-11 season when he was coach of then-Serie B side Siena.

Juventus released a statement immediately after the verdicts were announced, saying they have already begun preparing appeals for Conte and his assistant Angelo Alessio, who has been banned for eight months.

"Juventus expresses great satisfaction for the absolution of its players Leonardo Bonucci and Simone Pepe and underlines its full support for Antonio Conte and Angelo Alessio, in the hope that the next level of the justice system can at last show they are completely innocent."

Palazzi had asked for a 42-month ban for Bonucci and a 12-month ban for Pepe for their alleged roles in fixing the Udinese vs. Bari match in May 2010. Bonucci was a Bari player at the time, while Pepe was with Udinese.

Udinese have also been cleared, while fellow Serie A side Bologna has been fined €30,000 ($37,000) — Palazzi had asked for it to be docked two points.

Former Bologna captain Marco Di Vaio — now with Canadian side Montreal Impact — has also been cleared. He tweeted: "Justice has been done!!! Cleared!!! Now I’ll go back to bed a lot lighter!!"

Meanwhile, Lecce and Grosseto have been banned from Serie B and will start next season in Lega Pro, the third division of Italian football. Novara has been deducted two points.

Appeals will be heard on 20 August

Juventus’ preparations for the Italian Supercup against Napoli were thrown into disarray after coach Antonio Conte’s suspension.

The club plans to appeal the suspension, but whatever the outcome it will come too late for today’s match in Beijing. Juventus will instead be coached by assistant Massimo Carrera.

Juventus will also be without winger Simone Pepe and defender Leonardo Bonucci despite the pair being cleared in the fixing scandal.

"We’re good, we’re focused and we’re really up for this challenge," defender Andrea Barzagli said. "Stories off the pitch don’t trouble us. In fact, maybe they fire us up more. When you go out onto the pitch everything else stays behind and you only think about the game."

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri does not think Conte’s absence will have much bearing on the match.

"With good coaches, it doesn’t change much if they don’t sit on the bench," he said. "A coach can’t affect much during the game."

The traditional season opener between the Serie A champions and the Italian Cup winners is taking place for the third time in four years in Beijing.

Napoli were the only team to beat Juventus last season, winning 2-0 in the Italian Cup final, but Barzagli is confident of a different outcome this time around.

"We know Napoli’s strengths. It has a great potential and important players. But the real protagonist last year was Juve, and I think Napoli will have to do a lot of work if it wants to win the Supercup,"Barzagli said. "We will be aggressive and try to impose our game. In short, the same Juve as always."

Juventus have won the competition five times and finished runner-up on four occasions. The club’s last Supercup appearance was in 2005 when it lost to Inter.

Napoli have only played one Supercup, and will be hoping for a repeat of its 5-1 win against Juventus in 1990.