Successes and controversy are never far apart at Juventus,
which is back in crisis mode following the resignation of club president Andrea
Agnelli and the team’s entire board of directors following an investigation by
Turin prosecutors into alleged false accounting.
The move comes 16 years after the “Calciopoli” refereeing
scandal that saw Juventus, a record 36-time Italian champion, demoted to Serie
B and stripped of two Serie A titles.
In between there was a record run of nine consecutive Serie
A titles, five Italian Cup trophies and five Italian Super Cup victories.
The one big prize Juventus has consistently missed out on is
the Champions League, with its only two titles in Europe’s premier competition
coming in 1985 and 1996.
It’s pursuit of that coveted continental trophy was what led
Juventus to sign Cristiano Ronaldo in a 100 million euro ($103 million)
transfer from Real Madrid in 2018. The hefty transfer fee and Ronaldo’s 31
million euro ($32 million) salary created significant debts for the Turin club,
though, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turin prosecutors have apparently discovered more secret
payments to Ronaldo that were not reported by Juventus, which is listed on the
Milan stock exchange.
Ronaldo left Juventus for Manchester United last year.
“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 said in a statement announcing
the resignations.
Agnelli, vice president Pavel Nedved and CEO Maurizio
Arrivabene are among 15 people who could face a trial for alleged false
accounting and irregularities in player transfers.
Prosecutors have been investigating since last year whether
Juventus cashed in on illegal commissions from transfer and loans of players.
The case is also exploring if investors were misled with invoices being issued
for non-existent transactions to demonstrate income that in turn could be
deemed false accounting.
The case involves player contracts, transfers and agent
dealings between 2018 and 2020.
At the start of the pandemic, Juventus said 23 players
agreed to reduce their salary for four months to help the club through the
crisis. But prosecutors claim the players gave up only one month’s salary.
A shareholders meeting rescheduled for Dec. 27 was postponed
to Jan. 18 to choose a new board.
While sports authorities initially dropped their inquiry
into Juventus’ alleged false accounting, the Italian soccer federation
prosecutor has since requested documentation from Turin authorities leading the
investigation — meaning that Juventus could risk being penalized points in
Serie A.
Juventus was already eliminated from the Champions League in
a horrible start to this season, which also saw it win only two of its opening
nine Serie A matches. But the Bianconeri won six straight in the Italian league
before the break for the World Cup.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has so far survived the
turmoil on and off the field and might even be given greater powers now in the
sports department involving transfer decisions.
Serie A resumes Jan. 4.
In September, Juventus reported a record loss of 254.3
million euros ($246 million) for the 2021-22 financial year. It was the fifth
consecutive year that Juventus reported a loss, and it was 44.4 million euros
($43 million) more than in 2020-21.
Agnelli was also one of the architects of the failed
European Super League project, and was still clinging on to the effort along
with fellow holdouts Real Madrid and Barcelona.
On Tuesday, the Spanish league issued a statement demanding
“immediate sports sanctions” be applied to Juventus, noting that it had filed a
complaint with UEFA in April for financial fair play breaches.
The shakeup at Juventus comes amid a busy week for the
Agnelli family, which controls Juventus and Ferrari.
Ferrari announced Tuesday that is parting ways with Mattia
Binotto after 28 years — four as head of the Formula One team — following a
season of botched strategy calls that cost Charles Leclerc any chance to
contend for the championship.