On May 23, Beijing time, the Italian Federal Court of Appeal officially announced that Juventus was sentenced to deduct 10 league points in the retrial of the financial fraud case. So, what's going on here?
What crime did Juve commit?
Juve have been accused of financial fraud, mainly involving two aspects. One is the case of false capital gains, which is to inflate player transfer fees to make accounts to meet financial review requirements. The Italian Football Federation's prosecutors launched an investigation involving nine Italian clubs, but only Juve were found guilty and the other eight were spared.
The second is the announcement in the summer of 2020 that players collectively forfeit a four-month salary totaling 90 million euros, which was not included in the financial report. But in reality, the club made a private agreement with the players, only with delayed distribution. Since Juve are a listed company, they are involved not only in the field of football, but also in financial violations, which are investigated by the local inspectorate in Turin.
The outcome of the penalty has changed several times
In April last year, Juve was acquitted in the first instance, but on January 21 this year, the Italian Football Federation officially announced that after a retrial, Juve was deducted 15 points for financial fraud! They have the right to appeal.
In addition, a number of Juve executives have been suspended, with Paratici suspended for 2 and a half years, Agnelli and Arivabine for 2 years, Cherubini for 1 year and 4 months, and Nedved for 8 months.
Subsequently, Juve appealed through the Italian Olympic Committee, temporarily recovering the 15 points deducted and given the opportunity to retry the case.
Yesterday, local time, the case opened a retrial hearing, and the prosecution's claim was to deduct 11 points, and the final court's judgment was to deduct 10 points and be immediately enforced.
In addition, former Juve vice-president Nedved and seven other high-level members at the time, who were banned for eight months, were acquitted.
In response, Juventus official responded: "Juventus Football Club takes note of the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Italian Football Federation and reserves the right to read the reasons to assess the possibility of appealing to the Italian Olympic Committee's guarantee committee. In an event that began more than a year ago, what was determined by the fifth verdict caused great suffering among the club and its millions of supporters. In the absence of clear regulations, the penalties imposed also do not seem to take into account the principle of proportionality, which has caused great losses to the club and supporters. ”
The impact of Juve's penalty
From a 15 point deduction to a 10 point deduction, Juve's penalty has been reduced, and although it is difficult to qualify for the Champions League by five points behind the top four, there is still a chance to participate in European competition, at least without being fined to the point of relegation, and there is also a chance to appeal.
After Juve fell out of the top four, Lazio directly qualified for next season's Champions League, Inter basically locked up the Champions League ticket, AC Milan returned to fourth and saw an opportunity to participate in the Champions League.
However, Juve were found guilty again, and in addition to Italy, whether UEFA will punish them, including banning them from European competitions, is still doubtful, after all, the Bianconeri and UEFA are not happy when it comes to the European Premier League.