Juventus have been given a 15-point deduction from the current Serie A standings and the club’s former president Andrea Agnelli has been suspended for two years from his duties in Italian football due to mismanagement and the manipulation of transfer finances, the Italian Federation (FIGC) announced on Friday. The capital gains breach deduction will see Juventus drop from 37 points to 22 where they will sit 10th in the 20-team league and be in danger of finishing in the top four to qualify for the season’s Champions League next.
The sanctions didn’t just impact the club on the pitch, as 11 executives, ranging from directors to board members, were banned for an extended period. Here is the summary of penalties:
- Juventus: 15 points lower than the current Serie A standings
- Fabio Paratici, now manager at Tottenham: 30-month suspension
- Andrea Agnelli, former president: suspension of 24 months
- Maurizio Arrivabene, former CEO: 24-month suspension
- Federico Cherubini, current director: 16-month suspension
- Pavel Nedved, former vice-president: eight-month suspension
- Paolo Garimberti, former board member: Eight-month ban
- Enrico Vellano, former non-independent director: Eight-month ban
- Assia Grazioli-Venier, former administrator: Eight-month ban
- Caitlin Hughes, former Independent Director: Eight-month ban
- Daniela Marilungo, former Independent Director: Eight-month ban
- Francesco Roncaglio, former board member: eight-month ban
“The Federal Court of Appeal presided over by Mario Luigi Torsello has partially accepted the appeal of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office on the partial revocation of the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal to United Sections n. 89 of last May 27, sanctioning Juventus of 15 penalty points to be served in the current football season and with a series of inhibitions for 11 Juventus leaders,” the Italian FA said in a statement.
Juventus have officially appealed the penalty. The 15-point penalty is more severe than the nine-point deduction recommended by a FIGC prosecutor earlier today. This all comes after the club’s recent financial statements were scrutinized by prosecutors and Italian market regulator CONSOB in recent months for false accounting and market manipulation.
Besides Juventus, the following eight clubs have been acquitted of any wrongdoing in the investigation: Sampdoria, Pro Vercelli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Empoli, Novara and Pescara.
The investigation led to the resignation of the board in November, which also marked the end of an era for Agnelli and Nedved. The club acknowledged the so-called “salary maneuvers” of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, adding that “the complexity of such profiles on the evaluation elements may be subject to different interpretations”.
Chief prosecutor Giuseppe Chine, after launching an investigation into the club, said he was convinced that he had “new evidence demonstrating the existence of the crimes”, according to La Gazzetta della Sport. In this case, we talk about wiretaps and new documents that came to light during the civil trial, including Paratici’s so-called ‘black book’ detailing the club’s capital gains over the past two seasons. The federal prosecutor did not initially have this information from Paratici available to him during the first criminal trial last year.
The club will appeal to the Guarantee College of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) to see if the deducted points are reinstated. Paratici’s ban, meanwhile, is not valid outside of Italy at the moment, but the Italian FA prosecutor has officially requested UEFA and FIFA to extend the ban outside. from Italy.
