Serie A giants Juventus have been deducted 15 points for their role in an accounting scandal named 'plusvalenza'.
An investigation was opened in 2021 regarding the club's finances with it being claimed that their losses had been misrepresented between 2018 and 2020. Juventus denied any wrongdoing but the Federal Court of Appeals has accepted the FIGC Prosecutor’s request to reopen the sporting trial against the club for their alleged usage of falsified capital gains.
Severe punishments have also been handed out to a number of officials involved in the scandal including Tottenham chief Fabio Paratici. He has been hit with a suspension for two-and-a-half years, whilst Andre Agnelli has also been handed a two-year suspension alongside former Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene.
Pavel Nedved and Federico Cherubini have been hit with suspensions ranging between eight and 16 months. At this point, the sanctions are only applicable to Italian football, although the FIGC have requested these be extended to UEFA and FIFA competitions.
Should that request be successful it will leave Spurs with a decision to make over the future of Paratici, who has played a key role in the club's recruitment process since being appointed in 2021.
Prosecutor Giuseppe Chine had only originally called for a nine-point penalty for the Old Lady but their punishment is far more severe. All officials hit with suspensions have been banned from activity within Italian football, with them not being applicable to roles outside of the country for the time being.
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Should it be applied to this season, then that would leave the Italian side in 11th in Serie A. They currently occupy third and are 10 points behind current league leaders Napoli.
The points deduction would see them fall below Fiorentina and Torino and leave them as outsiders in the race for a place in next season's Champions League. Juve were not the only side to have been investigated; however all over clubs have been acquitted.
All of Sampdoria, Pro Vercelli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Empoli, Novara and Pescara were all investigated but have avoided any punishment. Juventus have already confirmed their intentions to appeal the decision.
A club statement read: "The Company [Juventus] awaits the publication of the reasons of the decision and announces as of now the bringing of an appeal to the Sport Guarantee Board (Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport) in accordance with the terms of the Sport Justice Code."
The case against the club's finances was originally opened by the Turin Prosecutor’s Office in 2021. A number of transfers involving the Italian club were scrutinised with inflated fees being at the heart of all investigations.
Written reasons from the FIGC will be published within the next days, whilst Juventus have 30 days to lodge a further appeal.
