Juventus have seen their deducted 15-point for fraudulent transfer activity overturned and they are now 3rd in the Serie A table.
Juventus’ 15-point penalty for transfer dealings in the summer has been reversed with Italy’s apex court ordering the case to be re-evaluated.
Juventus suffered punishment in January after they were found guilty of false accounting.
Fabio Paratici, Tottenham’s Director Of Football and former director at Juventus, lost the appeal of his 30-month ban as part of the same case.
The former Juventus director was among the 11 directors at the club then who were sanctioned by the authorities.
He stepped down from his director role at Tottenham when his ban was extended globally at the time Spurs were looking for a replacement for Antonio Conte.
Paratici was not the only one that saw his appeal rejected, former president Andrea Agnelli, ex-chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene and sports director Federico Cherubini appeals were turned down.
Former player and director Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti and Enrico Vellano had their own appeals accepted unlike those mentioned above.
The Serie A season have just 8 games to go and AC Milan have been knocked off the Champions League place by Juventus, while Roma dropped to fourth.
Francesco Calvo, Juventus’ chief football officer, did welcome the decision and said it provides certainty to the club and the other sides battling to finish in the top four.
The chief said: “As of today, we finally have certainty and we expect that the points that have been given back to us will remain with us forever.”
Why Did Juventus Get Deducted 15 Points?
The Serie A giants were handed a points deduction in the league after an investigation revealed there was an illicit transfer from 2019 to 2021 by Italian football’s governing body (FIGC).
The Old Lady were accused of adding artificial gains in their balance sheet that amounted to 60 Million Euros from club transfers, a charge that was found by the FIGC’s appeals court in January.
Juve did deny any wrongdoing and took their case to a tribunal at the Olympic Committee, Italy’s apex sporting court.
The Serie A giants were among the other clubs in the league that were acquitted of suspected transfer illegalities by an FIGC appeals court trial last year, but further investigations were done due to fresh evidence from a separate probe into the club’s finances.
The prosecutors initially requested a 9-point deduction but the sanction, later on, amounted to 15 points.
Which Club Officials Were Involved?
Several members of the club’s board of directors stepped down last November during the investigation, including the likes of Agnelli, and former midfielder Nedved.
Juve released a statement as at that time saying; “considered to be in the best social interest to recommend that Juventus equip itself with a new board of directors to address these issues”.
The Chairman had overseen activities in the club for 13 years, and in that period, Juve won nine successive Serie A titles and reached two Champions League finals.
But the club in that same year had a loss of £220m – a massive record for an Italian side.
Agnelli and Arrivabene were banned from involving in Italian football for two years while Nedved received an eight-month suspension.
Cherubini and Paratici were subsequently suspended from Italian football for 16 months and two and a half years respectively.
That’s not all, Juventus are also facing an investigation from UEFA over possible breaches of licensing and financial fair play, which was announced last month.
