Juventus deducted 10 points by Italian federation for false accounting

Juventus have been docked 10 points in a new ruling by the Italian football federation’s appeals court after an investigation into the club’s transfer dealings found evidence of false accounting.

The decision sees Juventus drop from second place to seventh in the Serie A, making it highly unlikely they will reach the Champions League.

Juventus were handed a 15-point penalty in January, while several members of its former board were also given bans from football activities, including former president Andrea Agnelli.

The points deduction was suspended last month on an appeal to the country’s highest sports court within the Italian Olympic Committee and referred back to the football federation’s appeals court for a new trial.

During a three-hour hearing on Monday, federation prosecutor Giuseppe Chiné requested an 11-point penalty for Juventus. He had asked for nine back in January. Chiné also requested eight-month bans for seven former Juventus directors, including Pavel Nedvěd, but they were cleared on Monday. Agnelli and three others had their appeals rejected last month.

The Juventus board resigned en masse in November following an investigation by Turin public prosecutors into alleged false bookkeeping. A trial was then re-opened based on information from the Turin prosecutors, leading to the points deduction. Juventus had initially been cleared by the sports court the previous April.

The prosecutors in Turin have also charged Juventus, Agnelli and 11 others with false communications by a company listed publicly on the Milan stock exchange, obstructing watchdog agencies, false billing and market manipulation.

Juventus’ legal troubles deepened still further last week after the Italian football federation also charged the club and seven former team directors with alleged fraud for the way they handled player salary cuts during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Juventus Football Club takes note of what was decided by the FIGC Court of Appeal and reserves the right to read the reasons to evaluate a possible appeal to the Guarantee Board at CONI,” the club said.

“What was established by the fifth instance of judgment in this matter, which began more than a year ago, arouses great bitterness in the club and in its millions of supporters who, in the absence of clear rules, find themselves extremely penalised with the application of sanctions that seem to take into account the principle of proportionality. While not ignoring the need for urgency, which Juventus has never shied away from during the proceedings, it is emphasised that these are facts that still have to be evaluated by a judge.”