Fifteen penalty points in the league, a possible exclusion until 2028 from European competitions: Juve, queen of Italy for the last decade, could once again fall very low of their own doing.
It’s not easy to be a Juventus supporter these days. First there was the humiliation in Naples (5-1) to digest. Then the mockery of the tifosi interisti, Milanese and the rest of Italy and elsewhere – even the Rubin Kazan got into it on TikTok – when the announcement of the withdrawal of fifteen points three days ago by the Court of Appeal of the Italian Federation ( FIGC). The beautiful draw against Atalanta this Sunday (3-3) will not change the Turin reality of the moment: Juve is sportingly far from its zenith, far from the high spheres of the championship. Far, at all levels, from its superb which is however not so old as that.
video/7191117557380779266" data-video-id="7191117557380779266" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;">@fcrk It’s getting cold
C in the air
There were of course warning signs, as we wrote a few weeks ago, but no one would have imagined that the FIGC authorities would thus signal the end of recess. Because beyond the sporting punishment, there are also the sanctions against these now ex-Turin leaders who all thought they were leaving by a back door in the middle of the World Cup: Andrea Agnelli took a two-year ban from exercise any function in football, same thing for Maurizio Arrivabene who was part of the board of directors. Pavel Nedvěd will only be out for eight months. The palm in this area goes to Fabio Paratici, former sporting director of the club from 2010 to 2021 and today in post at Tottenham, who was punished up to 30 months. Waiting to know if the sanction applies in England.
Worse, the weight of the sanctions could increase in the weeks to come. If Juve can (and will) already appeal this sanction to CONI, the Italian Olympic sports committee, this case of artificial capital gains was nevertheless the least feared by the board Turinese. Within a week, the FIGC prosecutor’s office will also decide on another case: that of “salary manoeuvres” and what the Turin prosecutors call “partnerships” between the Bianconeri and some Serie A clubs. Inside, there is also, as related Daily factagreements in the form of « side letter » between the players and the Turin club on the deferred payment of wages which would not have been brought to the attention of the Federation. This procedure would have made it possible to postpone “the staggered payment of 59,847,802 euros over the following seasons” . Indeed, the accounts are not good.
“Today we are paying because these disgusting creatures have treated our shirt like a soulless object. » The ultra groups Drughi, Nab and Viking
The fall, the landing…
Like a collapsing house of cards, a conviction which this time would relate to players’ salaries – and not to transfer capital gains – could directly affect Juve on the European level, because it would violate thus the rules of financial fair play. Why in one case and not the other? Quite simply because on capital gains and therefore fictitious capital gains, the authorities explain that it is mathematically difficult to determine the value of a player. Already in the sights of the European body for its fragile finances and its losses of up to 200 million euros over the past two seasons, the Old Lady could be excluded from European competitions from next season, until in 2028 according to some voices in Italy.
A plausible outcome, especially since the ultra-affirmed positions in favor of the Superleague of Andrea Agnelli in recent years do not really plead in favor of the Piedmontese club. This scenario would then be on the whole much more serious than the previous Calciopoli scandal of 2006, and would further damage the image of the most successful club in the Boot. If the majority of tifosi juventini are still in shock, angry and surprised to see their club alone in the dock, some voices pointing the finger directly at the former management team. Via a press release, the ultra groups Drughi, Nab and Viking (which Andrea Agnelli fired from the stadium during his presidency) write: “It’s worse than in 2006. That time we were really beyond reproach and what happened was nothing more or less than the need to interrupt our sporting dominance which was becoming embarrassing for everyone. This is not the situation today. Today we are paying because these disgusting creatures treated our jersey like a soulless object. » No one knows how far the Old Lady will fall, although as usual, the most important thing is the landing.
The joint statement from Viking Juve, Drughi and NAB is salty. They call the former management of Andrea Agnelli “disgusting” and unlike in 2006 they have no doubts about the guilt of the ex-Juve leaders. Remember that Agnelli had kicked them out of the stadium. pic.twitter.com/FADqHtwmsG
— Adrien Verrecchia (@AVerrecchia_) January 22, 2023
Par Andrea Chazy
