Serie A and Italian football as a whole was hit by a shock on Monday evening as news emerged that all of Juventus’ board members, including Andrea Agnelli, Pavel Nedved, and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene had resigned from the club. Juventus then confirmed those reports with an official statement.
The news was broken by Goal.com journalist Romeo Agresti on Monday, November 28 and then reported by Sky Sport Italia and Rai before Juventus confirmed the news. Their confirmation came after an announcement stating that their shareholders’ meeting had been postponed.
What is happening at Juventus?
The news is thought to be in relation to the fact that Juventus are being investigated for suspicious transfer activity whereby they allegedly inflated values of players for reasons of capital gains. The financial statements from 2018, 2019 and 2020 are being looked into by investigators. There may also be questions regarding allegedly deferred payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the spring and summer of 2020, as many as 23 Juventus players agreed to reduce their salaries over a four-month period at the club. This was thought to be to help the club navigate its way through a trying financial period. But, it has since been alleged that the players’ salaries were paid, but in a way that would have permitted for tax payments to be avoided by both club and player and for it to seem as though Juventus’ books balanced. Should these accusations be proven, the club would face charges of financial fraud.
Who resigned from Juventus?
Juventus’ board of directors consisted of Agnelli, Nedved, Arrivabene, Laurence Debroux, Massimo Della Ragione, Kathryn Fink, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio, Giorgio Tacchia and Suzanne Heywood. The club confirmed that they had resigned on Monday night.
“Given the centrality and relevance of legal issues and technical-accounting pending, [board members] have deemed, in accordance with the best social interest, to recommend that Juventus provide a new Board of Directors to address these issues,” the Bianconeri said.
“Juventus will continue to cooperate with supervisory and industry authorities, without prejudice to the protection of its rights in relation to disputes against the financial statements and communications of the Company by CONSOB and by the Prosecutor’s Office.”
The club went on to explain that Arrivabene would remain involved until a new board had been founded and that a new Board of Directors would be confirmed in a meeting scheduled for January 18, 2023.
No word on Allegri’s position
It would seem that the news has no bearing or relevance to head coach Massimiliano Allegri who has seemed to be under threat at certain points earlier in the season.
Tuttomercatoweb reported on Monday night that Allegri had dinner with the resigning directors on the evening of their resignations, but that his position was safe as there are no people currently in a position at the club to dismiss him and decide on a new sporting project.
An excellent run of form coming into the World Cup break has lessened the amount of pressure on the coach and whilst the situation upstairs does not make for a great working environment, it seems to be separate from his role at the club.
Juventus currently sit third in the Serie A table and are 10 points behind league leaders Napoli.
