Juventus handed 15-point deduction in league standings for capital gains violations

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Italian football powerhouse Juventus on Friday were given a 15-point reduction in the standings in the Italian top-tier Serie A for capital gains violations.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) confirmed the sanction against the Turin club and banned 11 former senior executives, including the former chair Andrea Agnelli, former vice-president Pavel Nedved and former sporting director Fabio Paratici.

Juventus were reportedly being investigated for "false accounting" and "market manipulation."

The Federal Court of Appeal of the FIGC "partially accepted" the appeal of the Federal Prosecutor's Office and gave a 30-month ban to Paratici, 24-month ban to Agnelli and Juventus' ex-CEO Maurizio Arrivabene, and an eight-month ban to Nedved, who was a Juventus midfielder before his executive role.

Paratici is the current Managing Director of Football at English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

Juventus director Federico Cherubini was among the 11 executives penalized. Cherubini was sanctioned with a 16-month ban.

The entire Juventus board, including Agnelli and Nedved, resigned Nov. 28, for charges of false accounting.

Italian businessman Gianluca Ferrero, 60, was officially appointed president of Juventus, the club said Wednesday.

After the mass exodus, Ferrero was appointed new chairman by Exor, the holding company that owns a majority of the club's shares.

This week, Juventus named their new board of directors.

In November 2021, as part of an investigation launched by the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office, the Guardia di Finanza raided Juventus’ offices because of financial irregularity claims.

The Turin Public Prosecutor's Office previously said police searched offices to inspect the Serie A club's approved financial statements and footballers' deals in 2019 - 2021.

The financial probe seeks to inspect profits from transfers and agents’ fees during those years. Agnelli, Nedved and Paratici have been previously under investigation.

After the point deduction, Juventus were lowered to the 10th spot with 22 points in the Italian league, risking qualification for European cups next season.

Juventus are far from the top of the league.

Napoli have 47 points to top Serie A. The Naples club's nearest opponents in the league table are AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Second-place AC Milan have 38 points and Inter are one point behind their archrivals.