Another storm is brewing at Juventus as the club has had their offices raided after being under investigation for false accounting. Included among those whose offices have been raided are President Andrea Agnelli, Vice-President Pavel Nedved and ex-Director of Football at Juventus, now at Spurs, Fabio Paratici.
#Juventus President Andrea Agnelli, Vice-President Pavel Nedved and former sporting director Fabio Paratici, now at #TottenhamHotspur, are reportedly under investigation for false accounting and movement of €50m in the capital gains case.https://t.co/zizwd1suOC #SerieA #Juve
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) November 26, 2021
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Juventus were under investigation for false accounting, being accused of movement of €50m in the capital gains case. The main point of investigation in this ordeal is the transfers and fees paid to agents during 2019-21. Investigators reportedly seized documents related to transfers, invoices and financial statements in their raid.
“Since this afternoon, on the orders of this Public Prosecutor’s Office, soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza have been carrying out local searches at the Turin and Milan offices of Juventus Football Club Spa,” Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office said in an official statement, as reported by Goal.com.
“The financiers of the Turin Economic-Financial Police Unit, delegated to the investigations, were instructed to find documentation and other useful elements relating to the company financial statements approved in the years from 2019 to 2021, with reference to both the purchase and sale of rights to the sports performance of the players, and the regular formation of financial statements,” it added.
BREAKING NEWS:
Juventus officially investigated for false accounting!
Their headquarter has been searched by authorities
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) November 26, 2021
The statement further said: “At present, the activities are aimed at ascertaining the crime of false communications from listed companies and issuing invoices for non-existent transactions, towards the top management and the managers of the business, financial and sports management areas.”
“Under consideration, there are various transfer operations of professional players and the services rendered by some agents involved in the relative intermediaries,” it added.
WHAT NEXT?
At least 42 transfers during this period are expected to be investigated by the public prosecutor. Chief among them is the Arthur Melo-Miralem Pjanic swap that had raised the eyebrows of bookkeepers even at the time it happened. Both the clubs, Juventus and Barcelona, have since found themselves in hot water from an accounting point of view. Six officials of Juventus are under investigation, including the President and Vice-President.
It is estimated that the Italian game collectively lost €1.1 billion over the last two years due to COVID-19. The clubs had been scrambling to recover the lost revenue in some way that gave way to these shady deals and the much-derided European Super League.
An extended investigation into these dealing is now expected, and if the club and the concerning officials are found guilty, further repercussions would be expected, in the form of fine or other penalties. It is unclear if Serie A has the jurisdiction to impose a retrospective points penalty in any case so that can be ruled out as things currently stand.
On the pitch, the team is struggling, 8th in the table, facing Atalanta next. The off-field situation is unlikely to help the players much now.