Genoa defender Izzo banned for 18 months in match-fixing case

The 25-year-old was punished for knowing and not disclosing that there was a match-fixing agreement when he was playing for US Avellino 1912 in the Italian Serie B (second-tier) in the 2013-14 season.

Italian media quoted Izzo's lawyer as saying he would appeal against the punishment.

The Italian football federation's disciplinary tribunal opted not to impose the full sanction of a six-year ban requested by its prosecutor last month. It had been investigating two matches played by Avellino in May 2014.

"The reluctance shown by Izzo to deny the events and circumstances ... suggest that there is proof at least of his actual knowledge of the ongoing attempts aimed at altering the normal pattern of the games in question," the disciplinary tribunal said in a statement.

Izzo was called up to the Italian national squad last November but did not make the team. ($1 = 0.9432 euros)

(Reporting by Silvia Recchimuzzi in Gdynia; Editing by Keith Weir)