Juventus Docked 15 Points For Cooking The Books

Not for the first time, Juventus have been punished for breaking the law by the Italian football federation. Seventeen years after the “Calciopoli” refereeing scandal that resulted in Juventus being demoted to Serie B and stripped of two Serie A titles, Italy’s most successful club has been handled an immediate 15-point penalty for false accounting

The punishment could all but eliminate Juve’s chances of playing in Europe next season. Before the penalty, Juventus were third in Serie A with 37 points, 10 behind leaders Napoli. The deduction pushes them down into 10th place, outside the qualifying spots for lucrative European competition.

“The Federal Court of Appeal presided over by Mario Luigi Torsello has partially accepted the appeal of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office on the partial revocation of the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal to United Sections n. 89 of 27 May last, sanctioning Juventus with 15 penalty points to be served in the current football season and with a series of inhibitions for 11 Juventus executives,” the Italian FA said in a statement.

In addition to the points deduction, the court also imposed bans from holding office in Italian soccer on 11 past and present Juventus directors.

• Fabio Paratici, now director at Tottenham: 30-month ban
• Andrea Agnelli, former chairman: 24-month ban
• Maurizio Arrivabene, former CEO: 24-month ban
• Federico Cherubini, current director: 16-month ban
• Pavel Nedved, former vice president: Eight-month ban
• Paolo Garimberti, former board member: Eight-month ban
• Enrico Vellano, former non-independent director: Eight-month ban
• Assia Grazioli-Venier, former board member: Eight-month ban
• Caitlin Hughes, former independent director: Eight-month ban
• Daniela Marilungo, former independent director: Eight-month ban
• Francesco Roncaglio, former board member: Eight-month ban

Juventus have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting was in line with industry standards and have announced that they would appeal to the country’s Sport Guarantee Board.

“We consider this to be a blatant injustice also for millions of fans, which we trust will soon be remedied in the next court,” lawyers for the club said in a statement.