Tottenham have announced that Football Director Fabio Paratici will take a leave of absence in the wake of his footballing ban being extended worldwide by FIFA. The director had been handed a 30-month ban from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in relation to an investigation into Juventus' accounts from his time working there, a decision which both Juve and Paratici decided to appeal against.
The club were charged with breaking rules in regards to transfer regulations - which they have denied and appealed since - eventually leading to a 15-point deduction in Serie A. This also handed a ban to the officials involved in the alleged charges against the Old Lady, which included Paratici during his spell in Turin.
The initial decision only regarded Italian football. However, FIFA decided to back this up with a worldwide ban for Paratici, which has gone on to impact Spurs.
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A statement from Tottenham reads: "This week - 29 March 2023 - the FIFA Disciplinary Committee announced a decision to extend the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) sanctions, relating to Fabio Paratici, worldwide. This decision was taken in advance of Fabio Paratici’s Appeal hearing against the FIGC sanctions on 19 April 2023, the result of which would then have been considered by additional stakeholders, including the Club.
"Given FIFA’s unexpected ruling the sanctions may now have multi-jurisdictional effect, although they are still related to the FIGC Appeal. In view of FIFA’s decision, Fabio has agreed with the Club that he will take an immediate leave of absence pending the outcome of his Appeal."
The implementations of the sanctions worldwide meant that Paratici couldn't conduct work as he usually would have done. Chairman Daniel Levy will gain a clearer picture of how the footballing project will continue from mid-April, when the appeal hearing is set to take place.
The following weeks will leave the club with some uncertainty as to what comes next, with both the men's and women's first team squads now without head coaches for the remainder of the season. On the men's side, the recent departure of Antonio Conte means that Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason are in charge on an interim basis.
Any discussion over the next manager in N17 was shut down by Paratici heading into the final run-in of the campaign as he told the club media: "We don't want to speak about other coaches, or follow the speculation in the media because it is just speculation, we are focused and now concentrating on helping Cristian [Stellini], the staff, Ryan [Mason], the players.
"I think today we have to be focused on our squad and our manager because it is an important moment."
However, this was just one-day before the Italian was charged with a worldwide suspension, throwing further chaos over the situation at the club, with a lack of clarity over where things proceed from here.
It remains to be seen exactly how things will play out, with something of a waiting game now on Tottenham's hands. However, the off-the-pitch situation is far from simple.
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