EXCLUSIVE: Why Juventus have been handed a Serie A points deduction

Italy most successful club, Juventus, has been hit with a 15-point reduction for the current league season due to a financial scandal.

Massimiliano Allegri had guided Juventus into the division’s top three until being punished on Friday 20 January, sending them sliding into mid-table, closer to the relegation zone than league-leading Napoli.

It is not the first dispute in which Juve has been involved; in 2006, the Old Lady had 30 points removed on way to Serie B as part of the Calciopoli scandal. However, that fiasco stemmed from improper influence over referees, whereas the newest controversy revolves around the club’s finances.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Serie A champions, who have won the title 36 times

Why Juventus have been reprimanded?

Following this shocking news, Juventus issued a press release on Friday that disclosed the allegations are related to “the evaluation of the effects of certain transfers of players’ rights on financial statements and the accounting of capital gains”.

When it comes to transfers, Juventus has been accused of potentially inflating player valuations in order to balance the club’s accounts. The initial examination looked into more than 50 transactions between 2019 and 2021.

Juventus and ten other teams were cleared of all wrongdoing by Italy’s Federal Court in April 2022. LaLiga, the top division in Spain at the time, complained to UEFA about Juventus’ Financial Fair Play (FFP) violations.

Juve announced a staggering £220 million loss for the 2021–2022 campaign, and the club’s entire board of directors resigned in November. That choice was made after a different team of prosecutors from Turin and the Italian market watchdog Consob examined the club’s financial records. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office appealed the initial judgment in December 2022 due to the claims of incorrect accounting and market manipulation, which finally led to the punishment they now face.

Juventus is one of nine clubs from the initial 11 to be investigated in the second wave.

How have Juventus been punished?

The 15-point deduction is clearly the most eye-catching figure, dropping them from third to tenth without a single match at the time, currently they are ninth after drawing with Atalanta yesterday. Surprisingly, Juve’s penalty went above the prosecution’s recommendation of nine points.

However, the repercussions do not stop there. 11 past and present Juventus executives and board members have been barred from participating in Italian football for different periods of time.

Main Figures involved

Andrea Agnelli’s uncle, Gianni, Juve’s former owner, once said: “Poor footballers are certainly overpaid. The good ones never earn enough.” It seems Andrea’s approach to the financial element of the club was also open to interpretation.

The club’s chairman was barred from holding office in Italian football for 24 months between 2010 until his departure in November. Two days before the points deduction was made public, during the official introduction of his Turin-born replacement, Gianluca Ferrero, Agnelli reiterated the value of a European Super League. Agnelli’s obsession with this continent’s elite money-making strategy may be explained by the club’s obviously fragile financial situation.

Fabio Paratici spent the first 11 years of his career with Juventus in a variety of positions until becoming managing director of football at Tottenham in the summer of 2021. The former club’s technical director and sporting director received a 30-month suspension from Italian football. These bans could be extended to all of European and international football, much as all the exclusions handed out to Juventus’ board, if requests are granted.

Federico Cherubini, the current sports director at Juventus, has received a 16-month ban.

Pavel Nedved, a former vice president of Juventus who won the 2003 Ballon d’Or while playing for the team, received an eight-month suspension.

Maurizio Arrivabene, the previous CEO, has sustained a two-year suspension.

Juventus response

In the statement which detailed the punishment, Juventus revealed: “The Company awaits the publication of the reasons of the decision and announces as of now the bringing of an appeal to the Sport Guarantee Board (Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport) in accordance with the terms of the Sport Justice Code.”

The club’s lawyers insisted that the sanctions “constitute a clear disparity of treatment against Juventus and its managers compared to any other company or member”.

They added: “We point out, as of now, that only Juventus and its managers are attributed the violation of a rule, that the same sports justice had repeatedly recognised that it did not exist.

“We believe that this is also a blatant injustice towards millions of fans, who we trust will soon be remedied in the next degree of judgement.”