A Juventus was punished with the loss of 15 points in the Italian Championship by the country's sports justice due to tax fraud in player signings, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced this Friday (20).
The Turin club had been acquitted along with ten other entities last year, but the FIGC appeals court accepted the federal prosecutor's request to reopen the case due to the elements transmitted by the Italian justice system, which is also investigating Juventus' accounts, according to a statement from the federation.
With the loss of 15 points, “to be fulfilled in the current season”, according to the terms of the statement, the court went beyond the prosecutor's request, which had requested the removal of nine points.
In Serie A, Juventus goes from having 37 points to 22, falling from third to tenth place in the table – Napoli is the leader with 47 points after 18 rounds of 38.
The appeal court also suspended former club officials: two and a half years for sporting director Fabio Paratici, currently at Tottenham, and two years for former president Andrea Agnelli, who stepped down this week. The punishments are stronger than those requested by federal prosecutor Giuseppe Chine.
Juventus can still appeal to the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) to reverse the punishment, which compromises the team's chances of finishing in the top four of the Italian Championship, synonymous with a place in the next European Champions League.
After the announcement of the loss of potos, the club reported on its website that it was waiting for “the publication of the reasons” for the decision, but anticipated that it would present an appeal to the arbitration board of the club. Cones.
Although other clubs were also involved at first, Juve was the main accused of having overpriced the sale of several players to record profits that allowed them to make up their accounts.
Juventus, team with the biggest fans in Italy, is also being legally investigated for possible accounting fraud to artificially limit its losses in the balance sheets presented to investors.
The Turin prosecutor's office asked in early December for Andrea Agnelli and 11 other former leaders to stand trial. This request must be reviewed at the end of March.
Under pressure from the courts, Andrea Agneli announced his resignation at the end of November. His successor as the 'Old Lady' president, Gianluca Ferrero, was officially appointed last Wednesday.
