Juventus are under investigations for allegedly falsifying financial documents relating to the earnings of Cristiano Ronaldo.
According to reports, the Italian club secretly promised to pay Cristiano Ronaldo £17million during the pandemic despite announcing reductions in salary during the Covid-19 period.
The secret plot is said to have been planned to take place for a period of over three years.
Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly signed some secret documents to the effect of the clandestine deal between him and the Italian club.
According to reports, Juventus stated that its players have agreed to give waivers to the club due to mounting financial pressure from the pandemic.
The waivers was to last for four months to lessen the financial pressure on the club.
The Italian club said their players were waiving their four months wages in that period.
In contrast, some secret documents have surfaced indicating that the club agreed to pay Cristiano Ronaldo £17million within the said period.
According to reports, investigators have found some hidden documents to that effect and investigation has commenced to ascertain the true situation of things.
Italian media outfit, La Gazzetta dello Sport, confirmed that the falsification of the club’s balance sheet to cover the alleged shady deal took place in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
A Turin prosecutor also added that 16 club officials were likey to be indicted and they have been placed under investigation.
Notable names that were under probe include the President of the club, Andrea Agnelli and Vice President Pavel Nedved.
Italy’s financial police led by Guardia Di Finanza also swing into action as they shuffled and dug out private documents in search of agreements between the club and its players during this three-year period.
Also, an investigator reportedly found a secret document signed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus.
The said document reportedly emerged from wiretaps of some of Juventus’ directors last December.
From the report, Juventus promised to pay Ronaldo €19.9m even if he left the Serie A side.
Italian prosecutors believe that the agreement was not registered in the club’s financial declaration.
Meanwhile, the Sporting Justice had reportedly cleared Juventus of any wrongdoing on Tuesday 24th October, 2022.
‘Salary reductions agreed with footballers in March 2020 would have been negotiated once competitions resumed and stadiums were reopened.’ sporting justice’s statement claimed.
Meanwhile, While speaking with Sportsmail, Juventus have dismissed the media hype surrounding the alleged misconduct, stating that they have been vindicated by two sports justice bodies.
‘It is important to remember that the subject of capital gains for so-called swap transactions is the one from which the whole investigation by the Turin Public Prosector’s Office began’, a statement from Juventus read.
‘This is an issue today that does not warrant news, insofar that two sports justice bodies.’
Juventus stated that the two justice bodies have recognised the full accounting regularity of the company, which has acted in full consistency with the practice of the football industry.
Furthermore, the Serie A club maintained that they have not falsified any financial documents to defraud the authorities and have always acted in compliance with laid down laws and standard accounting principles.
Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly contacted on Monday 23rd October, but had remained silent and refused to speak with the Italian prosecutor when asked of his position on the matter.
Note that Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018 before returning to Manchester United in 2021.
He made 98 appearances for the club, scoring 81 goals, in his three years spell with the Italian club.
