accounting fraud
15-point deduction: Juve wants to go to the highest sports court
Ex-Juve president Andrea Agnelli has been banned from any activity in Italian football for two years. photo
© Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse/AP/dpa
Juventus reportedly misrepresented the value of their players in their books. The record champions now want to take action against the drastic penalty.
Juventus Turin wants to take action against the severe point deduction that the Italian association court imposed on the record champions for accounting fraud.
As the club announced, he would appeal to the supreme sports court of the Italian Olympic Committee Coni. The Turiners had 15 points in the current Serie A deleted on Friday. The “Gazzetta dello Sport” wrote of an “earthquake in the championship”.
Juve slip from third to tenth place and are now 25 points adrift of leaders Napoli and 12 points adrift of the Champions League places. The club’s lawyers spoke of a “blatant injustice” – especially because all other clubs involved in the cause and their officials were acquitted. The Turin sports newspaper “Tuttosport” headlined outraged: “The injustice is satisfied! Unbelievable!”
The appeals court of the FIGC association considered it proven that for years Juve attributed fictitious market values to its players and noted them in the books. In the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 alone, the club’s balance sheet is said to have been glossed over by more than 100 million euros. The sports court had already acquitted Juve and the other clubs because of the allegations – but the proceedings were resumed due to new findings.
Juventus has one month after receipt of the verdict to lodge an appeal with the Coni’s highest sports court. However, this cannot cancel the penalty or reduce the point deduction, but only return the case to the FIGC court if procedural errors are found.
In addition to the club, a number of former club bosses and a current top official were also punished. Ex-President Andrea Agnelli, for example, was banned from any activity in Italian football for two years and former Vice-President Pavel Nedved for eight months. The two had recently resigned. The sports coordinator Federico Cherubini, who is still active, was handed a 16-month ban.