Juventus have been deducted 15 points from the current Serie A table and former club chairman Andrea Agnelli has been suspended for two years from his post in Italian football for abuse and manipulation of transfer finances, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced on Friday . The deduction from the capital gains breaches will see Juventus fall from 37 points to 22 points, where they finish 10th in the 20-team league and risk finishing in the top four to qualify for the champions league next season.
The sanctions didn’t just affect the pitch, with 11 executives, ranging from directors to board members, being suspended for extended periods. Here is an overview of the sanctions:
- Juventus: 15 points deducted from the current Serie A table
- Fabio Paratici, now director at Tottenham: 30 months suspension
- Andrea Agnelli, former President: 24-month ban
- Maurizio Arrivabene, former CEO: 24-month ban
- Federico Cherubini, current director: 16-month ban
- Pavel Nedved, former Vice-President: Eight-month ban
- Paolo Garimberti, former board member: Eight-month suspension
- Enrico Vellano, Former Non-Independent Director: Eight-month suspension
- Assia Grazioli-Venier, former board member: 8-month ban
- Caitlin Hughes, former independent director: Eight-month suspension
- Daniela Marilungo, Former Independent Director: Eight-month suspension
- Francesco Roncaglio, former board member: Eight-month suspension
“The federal appeals court, presided over by Mario Luigi Torsello, has partially accepted federal prosecutors’ appeal against the partial overturning of the federal appeals court’s United Sections n. 89 decision of May 27 last year, which sanctioned Juventus with 15 penalty points contained in the current football season and with a series of inhibitions for 11 Juventus executives,” the Italian FA said in a statement.
Juventus have officially appealed the penalty. The 15-point penalty is harsher than the 9-point deduction recommended by a FIGC prosecutor earlier in the day. This all comes after the club’s most recent financial statements were investigated by prosecutors and Italy’s market watchdog CONSOB in recent months for alleged misrepresentation and market manipulation.
In addition to Juventus, the following eight clubs have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the investigation: Sampdoria, Pro Vercelli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Empoli, Novara and Pescara.
The investigation led to the board’s resignation in November, which also marked the end of an era for Agnelli and Nedved. The club acknowledged the so-called “salary maneuvers” from fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21, adding that “the complexity of such profiles on assessment items can be interpreted in different ways”.
Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Chine, after launching investigations into the club, said he was “convinced that he had “new evidence proving the existence of the crimes”, according to La Gazzetta della Sport. In this case we are talking 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’s office initially did not have this information from Paratici during the first criminal trial last year.
The club will contact the Guarantee College of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) to see if the points deducted will be restored. Paratici’s ban does not currently apply outside of Italy, but the Italian Football Federation’s prosecutor has officially asked UEFA and FIFA to extend the ban outside of Italy as well.