Juventus fined, avoid points deduction in false accounting trial

A view shows the logo of the Juventus Italian Serie A football club on April 21, 2021 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. – Italian champions Juventus, one of the driving forces behind the the new European Super League said on April 21, 2021 the project could not go ahead as planned after the withdrawal of most of the 12 founding teams. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

Juventus escaped an additional Serie A points deduction but agreed to pay a fine of more than 700,000 euros ($751,000) for lying about players foregoing wages during the Covid-19 pandemic after a plea bargain approved Tuesday by the Italian Football Federation tribunal.

The plea deal, which Juventus had requested, brings to an end a series of cases in Italy’s sporting courts involving the Turin club.

Last week they were given a 10-point deduction in Serie A after a revision of their initial 15-point penalty inflicted on the club over illicit transfer activity.

Juventus have agreed not to appeal that penalty as part of Tuesday’s deal.

The disciplinary tribunal of the Italian federation (FIGC) said in a published decision that it had fined the troubled club 718,240 euros, while seven of its management figures were ordered to pay fines ranging from 47,000 euros to 10,000 euros.

Excluded from the plea agreement, however, is former chairman Andrea Agnelli, who jointly requested along with prosecutors that his hearing be postponed to June 15, given what the tribunal called “advanced talks” on potential sanctions.

The federation had been tasked with considering the deferred payment of certain players’ wages by the club and its key figures, as part of a wide-ranging scandal involving false accounting and transfer trickery that has rocked Italian football.

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