Juventus lawyers appear in court for false accounting trial

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Juventus’ attorneys appeared earlier than a choose Monday to face the primary in a collection of court docket dates following accusations of false accounting by the 36-time Italian champions.

The choose for a preliminary listening to in a Turin court docket postponed the process till May 10 for administrative causes.

Juventus, former membership president Andrea Agnelli and 11 others face costs of false communications by an organization listed publicly on the Milan inventory trade, obstructing watchdog companies, false billing and market manipulation.

“It’s completely normal in terms of procedure,” Juventus lawyer Maurizio Bellacosa stated following the postponement, including that the membership will request that the trial be moved to Milan or Rome upon its resumption in May.

Juventus’ total board of administrators resigned in November after news emerged of the widespread investigation by Turin prosecutors.

The membership was then hit with a 15-point penalty in Serie A in January after a sports activities trial within the case was re-opened based mostly on info from the Turin prosecutors.

Juventus, which denies wrongdoing, has appealed the 15-point penalty to Italy’s highest sports activities court docket throughout the Italian Olympic Committee, generally known as CONI. An enchantment listening to at CONI is slated for April 19.

If the purpose penalty is decreased, it might enhance Juventus again into the Champions League locations. The workforce is presently in seventh place however could be in second place if all the penalty was scrapped.

UEFA has additionally requested documentation from the Turin prosecutors.

One of the Turin prosecutors, Ciro Santoriello, withdrew himself from the case after a video emerged of him professing to be a fan of Juventus rival Napoli and to “hate” Juventus.