Juventus mired in scandal again as Agnelli and board resigns
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Scandal. Titles. More scandal.
Successes and controversy are by no means far aside at Juventus, which is again in disaster mode following the resignation of membership president Andrea Agnelli and the group’s whole board of administrators following an investigation by Turin prosecutors into alleged false accounting.
The transfer comes 16 years after the “Calciopoli” refereeing scandal that noticed Juventus, a document 36-time Italian champion, demoted to Serie B and stripped of two Serie A titles.
In between there was a document run of 9 consecutive Serie A titles, 5 Italian Cup trophies and 5 Italian Super Cup victories.
The one massive prize Juventus has constantly missed out on is the Champions League, with its solely two titles in Europe’s premier competitors coming in 1985 and 1996.
It’s pursuit of that coveted continental trophy was what led Juventus to signal Cristiano Ronaldo in a 100 million euro ($103 million) switch from Real Madrid in 2018. The hefty switch payment and Ronaldo’s 31 million euro ($32 million) wage created vital money owed for the Turin membership, although, which had been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turin prosecutors have apparently found extra secret funds to Ronaldo that weren’t reported by Juventus, which is listed on the Milan inventory alternate.
Ronaldo left Juventus for Manchester United final 12 months.
“Juventus will continue to collaborate and cooperate with the supervisory and industry authorities, without prejudice to the defense of its rights in relation to the challenges raised against the company’s financial statements and press releases by Consob (the stock exchange’s regulatory body) and the public prosecutor’s office,” Juventus stated in a press release saying the resignations.
Agnelli, vice chairman Pavel Nedved and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene are amongst 15 individuals who may face a trial for alleged false accounting and irregularities in participant transfers.
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 traders had been misled with invoices being issued for non-existent transactions to display revenue that in flip could possibly 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 cut back their wage for 4 months to assist the membership by way of the disaster. But prosecutors declare the gamers gave up just one month’s wage.
A shareholders assembly rescheduled for Dec. 27 was postponed to Jan. 18 to decide on a brand new board.
While sports activities authorities initially dropped their inquiry into Juventus’ alleged false accounting, the Italian soccer federation prosecutor has since requested documentation from Turin authorities main the investigation — that means that Juventus may danger being penalized factors in Serie A.
Juventus was already eradicated from the Champions League in a horrible begin to this season, which additionally noticed it win solely two of its opening 9 Serie A matches. But the Bianconeri gained six straight within the Italian league earlier than the break for the World Cup.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has to date survived the turmoil on and off the sector and may even be given larger powers now within the sports activities division involving switch choices.
Serie A resumes Jan. 4.
In September, Juventus reported a document lack of 254.3 million euros ($246 million) for the 2021-22 monetary 12 months. It was the fifth consecutive 12 months that Juventus reported a loss, and it was 44.4 million euros ($43 million) greater than in 2020-21.
Agnelli was additionally one of many architects of the failed European Super League undertaking, and was nonetheless clinging on to the hassle together with fellow holdouts Real Madrid and Barcelona.
On Tuesday, the Spanish league issued a press release demanding “immediate sports sanctions” be utilized to Juventus, noting that it had filed a criticism with UEFA in April for monetary honest play breaches.
The shakeup at Juventus comes amid a busy week for the Agnelli household, which controls Juventus and Ferrari.
Ferrari introduced Tuesday that’s parting methods with Mattia Binotto after 28 years — 4 as head of the Formula One group — following a season of botched technique calls that value Charles Leclerc any probability to contend for the championship.
