Juventus capital gains: Agnelli heads group of former directors who see appeals rejected

Despite the Collegio di Garanza of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) deciding in favour of Juventus‘ appeal of their punishment in the ongoing capital gains case, which resulted in the suspension of their 15-point deduction, they upheld individual punishments for several ex-board members. A number of other Serie A clubs are now also being investigated.

Former president Andrea Agnelli remains banned for 24 months, ex-sporting director Fabio Paratici will serve 30 months, while Maurizio Arrivabene and Federico Cherubini had 16-month suspensions upheld, due to the federal prosecutor’s office and Court of Appeals interpretation of Article 4.

With the Bianconeri leapfrogging a number rivals while awaiting a new trial and the possibility of a new punishment from the Federal Court, fifth-placed AC Milan and Inter in sixth are in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification for next season, unless the two 2022/23 semi-finalists were to finish go on to be crowned European champions.

Will individual punishments influence future case?

The Court of Appeal rejected the calls against sports-related punishments for the quartet for violating Article 4 of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) rules covering fairness and probity, and false accounting under Article 3. This means there could yet be significant sanctions to be imposed against the company Juventus FC S.p.A, as they had authorisation to act on the club’s behalf.

Their resignations in late November 2022, alongside several other Juventus directors, looked like an attempt to distance their individual actions from the club. But all involved will now await the next trial before their penalties can begin, if once again rejected. However, that is unlikely to happen until the end of the current campaign, so the team can focus fully on their Champions League qualification objective.

Nedved leads names cleared of wrongdoing

Although Agnelli, Paratici, Arrivabene and Cherubini remain a focus of the investigation, a number of others had their suspensions overturned by the court. Then vice-president and former Bianconeri player Pavel Nedved was the highest-profile name, and joined by Paolo Garimberti, Assia Grazioli-Venier, Caitlin Mary Hughes, Daniela Marilungo, and Francesco Roncaglio and Enrico Vellano.

The decision to pardon the other executives was based upon the hierarchical structure at the Old Lady and that the directors at the top of that organisational tree are ultimately responsible for club activities. Therefore, absolving those further down the chain of command, as they have less influence over the decisions that have landed Juventus in this situation.

Serie A table with Juventus’ points returned