Juventus docked 15 points over transfer dealings
Juventus have been docked 15 points following an investigation into the club’s past transfer dealings, Italy’s football federation (FIGC) says.
The Serie A giants were accused of fixing their balance sheets by artificial gains from club transfers.
Juventus had been in third place but the penalty will drop them to 10th.
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 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.
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.
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).”
The Bianconeri have confirmed that they will be appealing against the decision.
