Juventus Agree Plea Bargain To End Threat Of Further Sanctions In Serie A, But Still Await UEFA Ruling

After months of trials, appeals, points penalties and suspensions, Juventus and the Italian football federation finally brought an end to both investigations of the Serie A club.

The Bianconeri had been deducted 10 points in the Prisma investigation into inflated player transfer fees, a matter reported previously in this column and which had seen the footballing authorities look into a number of player transfers.

They did so with the belief that Juve were registering unrealistic figures as a plusvalenza, which is technically 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 a completely separate case, the Bianconeri were also facing 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 was 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 also believed he could prove that 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. However, shortly before that second case went to trial, Juventus met with FIGC Prosecutor Chiné and agreed a plea bargain that would put an end to the matter domestically. The FIGC officially accepted that agreement on Tuesday, a statement on their website confirming that the 10-point penalty would be their final punishment, along with a €718,240 fine.

That ruling also prevents Juve from any further appeals, with the club issuing a statement of their own shortly after news of the agreement emerged. Published on their own official website, it read; The Company, while reiterating the correctness of its actions and the soundness of its defensive arguments, has decided to file the application of sanctions on request under Article 127 CGS in the terms indicated above in the best interest of the Company itself, of its shareholders and of all stakeholders (belonging to the sports system and not).

The settlement of all open FIGC sports proceedings allows the Company to achieve a definite result, settling the matter and overcoming the state of tension and instability that would inevitably descend from the continuation of disputes whose outcomes and timing would remain uncertain, also allowing the management, the coach of the First Team and the players to focus on sports activities and in particular on the overall planning of the next season (with regard to sports activities and to business relationships with sponsors, other commercial and financial counterparts).

Speaking to DAZN earlier this week, the Juve CFOCFO 1% Francesco Calvo echoed those comments, looking to put the matter behind them and focus on improving their performances after a difficult campaign. We have said from the start very clearly that we feel we were punished unjustly, that it has been disproportionate, that we started the trial accused of violating one article, but concluded it condemned for a completely different one, the director said per Football Italia.

That is water under the bridge now, this is definitive and we are focused on the pitch. Yet while this news does bring some clarity to the situation, Juve will need to wait for UEFA to deliver their verdict on the matter. European football’s governing body began their own investigation into these matters back in December, with La Gazzetta dello Sport insisting that a ruling from them is expected very soon.

That report believes the Old Lady could be banned from European competitions next season, and with qualifying for those tournaments set to begin in early August, a decision is expected later this month. Juventus certainly took a huge step towards ending this sorry chapter in their history, but must now wait to hear the final outcome.