Italian journalist Gigi Moncalvo did not mince his words when discussing the resignation of Andrea Agnelli as Juventus president, claiming that the 46-year-old was voted out by the board.
The Bianconeri went into turmoil in November with the whole board resigning. Now the club is being investigated for allegedly inflating players’ values for capital gains, and possibly for allegedly deferring payments during the COVID-19 pandemic as well.
Moncalvo, who has written several books about the Agnelli family and is releasing another book about them in December called “Agnelli Coltelli” or “Agnelli Knives”, told Radio Napoli Centrale that Andrea did not leave on his own terms.
“Andrea Agnelli did not resign, he was kicked out, [and] forced to leave,” Moncalvo said on Un Calcio alla Radio.
“He found himself in the minority on the board of directors he thought was his, he got six votes against him, one undecided from Pavel Nedved, and only two votes in favour, his own and that of the faithful Francesco Roncaglio.”
Agnelli lost trust of Juventus board
Moncalvo has also claimed that Agnelli became distracted over time and this lack of focus on the club prompted the board to turn their back on him.
“Andrea Agnelli is subject, for some time, from a disturbance,” Moncalvo said.
“He is no longer down to earth, and above all he did not understand the seriousness of the situation from the point of view of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“The Juventus website published a document in which he admits the maneuvers on salaries and says that it was a question of wage subsidies and therefore says that they foresee a new budget project.
“How? It had to be presented by 31 October last, as required by law, they postponed it to January 18 and present a budget plan believing that the directors would have covered and would not have feared the criminal consequences, thinking they are on your side.”
Marilungo spilt the beans
It is believed that Daniela Marilungo was the board member who triggered the vote on Agnelli, forcing him to stand down after she made several criticisms of his presidency.
“A monument must be made to the person who opened fire, Daniela Marilungo, a 52-year-old lady from Bologna, who has a respectable pedigree and did not want to tarnish it with investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with the fear of indictments,” Moncalvo said.
“You had a long list of criticisms of Agnelli‘s management put in the minutes. The moment someone opens fire, everyone becomes brave, or at least all those who have been reached by a call from [Exor CEO] John Elkann, or the other three placed by him within the board of directors.”
New Juventus board will be devoid of football experts
A new board will be appointed at Juventus in January 2023 and it is improbable that any of the new directors will have a background in football according to Moncalvo.
“From a technical point of view, Juventus is in the hands of accountants, bookkeepers, extraordinary commissioners who have everything as a requirement except that of understanding football,” Moncalvo said.
“The technical area is orphaned, everyone goes about their own business. This is terrible news for Juventus fans, there is none of this whole gang who knows about football.
“Are Juventus in danger of being penalised? It depends on [Gabriele] Gravina that on Sunday, despite knowing everything that was going on around him, he was sitting next to Andrea Agnelli and listening to his sarcastic speeches.
“Now there is the accountant who knows nothing about football and must take order because he never makes decisions.
“This thing cost Marella Agnelli €90 million for back taxes requested by the Revenue Agency. Even a company of the then FIAT group had been fined for the same reason.”
