Juventus Facing More Financial Charges And Potentially A Further Points Deduction In Serie A

After the “salary manoeuvre” investigation into Juventus concluded, the Italian club now look set to face severe sanctions if the ruling of the Federal Prosecutor is upheld.

This matter does not refer to the “Prisma” investigation into inflated player transfer fees – reported previously in this column – which saw authorities look into a number of player transfers, with the belief that the club was registering unrealistic figures as a plusvalenza.

Technically that is the Italian word for “capital gains,” an accounting term for the profit earned on the sale of an asset like stocks, bonds or real estate, usually used to describe the difference between the (higher) selling price and (lower) cost price of a particular asset.

In that matter, Juve have already seen themselves be deducted 15 points in this season’s Serie A standings, with an appeal against that ruling set to be heard on April 19 at the Collegio di Garanzia CONI.

However, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, the Bianconeri now face charges over what happened after the club announced that players would forfeit their wages for four months during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been previously alleged that during that time, the club agreed to pay players “off the books” despite reporting in their accounts that the squad had agreed to not being paid.

That included over €19,500,000 ($21 million) in wages owed to Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2020/21 season, with the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office believing that the Italian club privately agreed to pay him the full figure.

The investigator insists that in reality, the squad only gave up one month’s wages and entered into various ‘secret agreements’ that saw the players receive the rest of the money they were owed via other means.

That aforementioned report from ANSA believes that Prosecutor Giancarlo Chinè has informed Juve that will be charged with breaching Article 4.1 in the Italian Football Association’s code of ethics, which refers to sporting fair play.

With the club now given 15 days to respond to the accusations, Juventus released a statement of their own, insisting that they have “operated in full compliance with sport loyalty’s principle.”

The statement – published on Juve’s official website – goes on to add their belief that the Annual Financial Reports from June 2022 and December 2022 show that Juve “correctly applied the relevant international accounting standards.”

There is little doubt that this case could prove far more damaging than the investigation into player transfers, with the latter difficult to prove as it relates to arbitrary figures that must be agreed by two clubs, and the player involved has to agree to a transfer.

Juventus sit seventh in Serie A after their points penalty, currently eight points adrift of the Champions League places. They are also into the quarter finals of the UEFA
EFA
Europa League where they will face Portuguese side Sporting over two legs for a place in the last four.