UEFA opens investigation into Juventus as club’s woes grow

MILAN (AP) — Juventus’ off-the-field issues carry on worsening in a scandal reverberating via Italian soccer.

UEFA opened an investigation into Juventus on Thursday, hours after it was revealed that the Turin prosecutor’s workplace had requested indictments for former president Andrea Agnelli and 10 different former board members in addition to the membership itself amid allegations of false accounting.

Former vice-president Pavel Nedved and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene — who each left the membership Monday when Agnelli and the whole board of administrators resigned — are amongst these for whom indictments have been requested as is former Juventus director of sport Fabio Paratici, who has moved to Tottenham.

“The CFCB (Club Financial Control Body) First Chamber has today opened a formal investigation into Juventus for potential breaches of the Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations,” European soccer’s governing physique stated in an announcement.

The investigation “will focus on the alleged financial violations that were recently made public as a result of the proceedings led by the Italian Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) and the public prosecutor in Turin,” UEFA continued.

The UEFA-appointed investigation unit is chaired by Sunil Gulati, the previous United States soccer federation president who’s an economics lecturer at Columbia University.

The unit concluded a settlement settlement with Juventus in August — to keep away from extra critical sanctions for breaches of monetary monitoring guidelines that apply to all golf equipment who qualify for UEFA competitions — however UEFA stated on Thursday that that may very well be revoked.

“In the event that, after conclusion of this investigation, the club’s financial situation was significantly different from that assessed by the CFCB First Chamber at the time the settlement agreement was concluded, or if new and substantial facts arise or become known, the CFCB First Chamber reserves the right to terminate the settlement agreement, take any legal step it may deem appropriate, and impose disciplinary measures,” UEFA stated.

It added that it’ll cooperate with the Italian authorities, who’re anticipated to announce inside the subsequent week a date for a preliminary listening to, when will probably be determined whether or not to indict and proceed to trial.

Juventus maintains that “the accounting treatment adopted in the contested financial statements falls within those allowed by applicable accounting principles” and that it has drawn that conclusion “on the basis of a solid set of opinions by leading legal and accounting professionals.”

In a prolonged assertion issued by the membership, it added: “Juventus remains convinced that it has always acted correctly and intends to assert its reasons and defend its corporate, economic and sporting interests in all forums.”

Prosecutors have been investigating since final 12 months whether or not Juventus cashed in on unlawful commissions from switch and loans of gamers. The case can be exploring if buyers have been misled with invoices being issued for non-existent transactions to exhibit revenue that in flip may very well be deemed false accounting.

The case entails participant contracts, transfers and agent dealings between 2018 and 2020.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Juventus stated 23 gamers agreed to scale back their wage for 4 months to assist the membership via the disaster. But prosecutors declare the gamers gave up just one month’s wage.

Turin prosecutors have additionally apparently found extra secret funds to former participant Cristiano Ronaldo that weren’t reported by Juventus.

Juventus is listed on the Milan inventory alternate, which additionally opens it to regulatory scrutiny by the CONSOB watchdog. The membership CFO, Stefano Cerrato, was caught on telephone faucets allegedly saying that if CONSOB questioned their strikes, they’d “razzle-dazzle” the regulators with fancy phrases, in accordance with leaks to Italian media.

Trading in Juventus shares was flat on Thursday, after a unfavorable 1.16% shut on Tuesday at 0.2738 euros.