Juventus have been deducted 15 points after inflating transfer values and lying to financial officials in an attempt to save money.
- Juve punished over financial irregularities
- Bianconeri will drop to 10th place
- Directors also hit with sanctions
WHAT HAPPENED? A prosecutor for the Italian Football Federation found Juventus guilty of a number of financial violations that saved the club millions in player salaries and transfer budgets. Prosecutors took issue with a number of irregularities stemming from player transactions, including the now infamous player swap with Barcelona that sent Arthur to Juventus and Miralem Pjanic to Barcelona. In total, 62 transfers were inspected, of which 42 involved Juventus.
The club was also in the spotlight for claiming to have saved €90 million (£78m/$97m) in player salaries back in 2020, helping the club’s value stay steady on the stock market.
The Juventus board, including president Andrea Agnelli and vice-president Pavel Nedved, resigned from their posts in November after authorities raised suspicions of a number of financial violations, including wage reductions during the COVID-19 pandemic and unusual transfer deals in which player values were inflated.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: As well as the points deduction, board members past and present have been hit with suspensions by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Among those is current Tottenham director Fabio Paratici, who has been handed a 30-month suspension. Meanwhile, the other teams under investigation – Sampdoria, Pro Vercelli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Empoli, Novara and Pescara – were all acquitted.
Juventus plans to appeal the decision to the Italian Olympic Committee, according to Sky Sports. The committee can only decide whether a decision is correct or not, and has no power to change potential sanctions.
WHAT THEY SAID?: A statement from the FIGC confirmed the punishment in a statement that read: “The Federal Court of Appeal presided over by Mario Luigi Torsello has partially accepted the appeal of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office… sanctioning Juventus with 15 penalty points to be served in the current football season and with a series of inhibitions for 11 Juventus executives (30 months for [Fabio] Paratici, 24 months for [Andrea] Agnelli and [Maurizio] Arrivabene, 16 months for [Federico] Cherubini, eight months for [Pavel] Nedved, [Paolo] Garimberti, [Enrico] Vellano, [Assia] Venier, [Caitlin] Hughes, [Daniela] Marilungo and [Francesco] Roncaglio).”
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WHAT NEXT FOR JUVENTUS? The Bianconeri have confirmed that they will be appealing against the decision.
