In the run-up to the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Sporting CP in Lisbon, Juventus have received the best possible news: the 15-point deduction they received on 20 January has been suspended until the Federal Court of Appeal makes a new assessment.
The Bianconeri, therefore, jump up in the Serie A table, moving into third place. They have gone from the current 44 points to 59. They are now in the Champions League places with an eight-point advantage over fifth-placed Inter.
It has taken just over 24 hours since the hearing began on Tuesday, with the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) deciding. While the team travelled to Portugal to play in the Europa League, Juventus‘ legal team sought the annulment of the sentence.
“We ask that the sanction of -15 points be cancelled. It is full of errors and wrong,” they argued.
After submitting the relevant allegations, Juventus withdrew to await the verdict of the judges. For weeks now, optimism has been pouring in from Turin, with words from Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri and club legend Alessandro Del Piero counting on having the 15 points back.
Yesterday, when CONI’s General Prosecutor for Sport, Ugo Taucer, representing the prosecution, spoke, Juventus looked like winners listening to his words. Moreover, the Italian Football Federation’s Prosecutor’s Office did not appear.
“I am afraid that as far as article 4 applied to the club is concerned, in the lack of motivation regarding the 15 penalty points, there is a principle of validity of the defences,” a prosecutor’s statement read.
“With regards to the sanction in points to the team, there is a ‘deficiency’ that will have to be assessed in a new judgment of the Federal Court.”
Nedved, Agnelli y Cherubini, en un partido de la Juventus.
In other words, everything points to a new sporting trial in the coming months. The reason? It has been understood that there is no justification for the 15-point sanction.
It is worth remembering that on 20 January last, the FIGC prosecutor’s office, led by Giuseppe Chine, asked for 9 penalty points… but in the end, 15 points were imposed. Let’s remember that Juventus was accused of fictitious capital gains. Of making them “systematically” and acknowledging it in conversations recorded by investigators. There is speculation in Italy that in this new trial another sanction could come to Juventus but at a reduced scale. Therefore, the 15 points will be temporarily returned to the Turin side.
Sanctions for the directors
In addition to the 15 championship points, the Federal Court of Appeal also imposed heavy sanctions on the Juventus management on 20 January: 2.5 years for Fabio Paratici (now at Tottenham), 2 years for Maurizio Arrivabene and Andrea Agnelli, one of the driving forces behind the Super League alongside Florentino Perez, 1 year and 4 months for Cherubini (current Juve Sporting Director) and 8 months for Pavel Nedved, Garimberti, Vellano, Venier, Hughes, Marilungo and Roncaglio.
These were sanctions extendable to UEFA and FIFA and so have affected Paratici, who has had to leave his position as Sporting Director at Tottenham.
Di Mara celebra un gol con la Juventus.
But… What is the outcome of this ruling? The appeals of Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti and Enrico Vellano were accepted, positions that became decisive, according to CONI, for the redetermination of the sanction by the FIGC justice.
On the other hand, the appeals of Andrea Agnelli, Fabio Paratici and Federico Cherubini were rejected.
More investigations underway
In the meantime, the salary cuts that took place during the pandemic break are under scrutiny. Like many clubs in Europe, Juventus reached an agreement with their staff to cut part of their salaries. What was later discovered is that the Old Lady paid back that money (and even more) without recording it in the balance sheets, thus altering the accounts of a publicly traded club like Juventus.
The players themselves, sent to testify last 2022, acknowledged this.
“It was a confusing moment. I remember we made the decision to decide whether to accept or not, all together,” Paulo Dybala was recorded saying.
“A lot of people thought we had given up four months’ salary and nobody knew that we would have accepted three months paid up front. I remember exactly when I signed the agreement for the reduction we had already reached an agreement with the club.”
What is not clear is when this issue will be resolved. Some sources in Italy point to the 2023/24 season.
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