BURNLEY'S pre-season preparations have been caught up by the match-fixing scandal rocking Italian football.

The Clarets hope to play two friendly games in the Verona region as part of their six-day training trip scheduled from July 23 to 29.

Serie A outfit Chievo Verona were planned opponents for one of two dates pencilled for fixtures on Tuesday, July 25 or Friday, July 28.

But that friendly has been thrown into doubt due to the much-publicised match-fixing scandal surrounding Italian football powerhouse clubs Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, who have been accused of rigging games by selecting favourable referees.

Chievo are guaranteed a UEFA Cup place next season after finishing seventh in Italy's top flight league.

But if the four implicated clubs, all of whom finished in Serie A's top six last term, are found guilty, Chievo could steal a Champions League place, with potential preliminary phase matches likely to alter their own pre-season preparations.

Juventus, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina all face a sports court over the allegations, with hearings at the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) trial set to begin on Thursday.

It is anticipated that severe sanctions, including possible relegation and ineligibility to compete in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, will be imposed on guilty clubs.The scandal may also put back the official start to the 2006/07 Serie A season, which could also scupper Burnley's chances of facing Chievo.

Regardless of the trial verdict, which is expected to be delivered between July 7 and 9, the Clarets will travel to Italy as planned.

And manager Steve Cotterill admits everyone behind the scenes at Turf Moor is working hard to sort out the fixtures.

"We've not been able to nail down games in the pre-season break in Italy," said Cotterill.

"It's ended up putting us back a little bit. We are still going over there and hope to have two fixtures, but at the moment it's putting phonecalls in day after day.

"We are just needing to hang fire at the moment. We are doing our level best to get it all sorted out.

"But we are not travelling all the way for nothing. We know what days we will be training on, that is all sorted. But the games cannot be confirmed yet."

The sporting fraud charge against Milan, the six-time European Cup champions, was based on a single Serie A match against Chievo in April 2005.

Teams found guilty of match-fixing have been relegated before in Italian football history, most recently in 1980 when Milan and Lazio were demoted to Serie B.

Based on final league positions last term, champions Juventus and runners-up Milan would enter the Champions League, Inter Milan and Fiorentina would enter the third qualifying round of the Champions League, and Roma, Lazio and Chievo would be eligible for the UEFA Cup.

The list of Italian participants in next season's competitions was due to UEFA on June 5.

FIFA have given FIGC an informal July 31 deadline to confirm the standings or face sanctions in the two larger European competitions.