Prosecutor seeks nine-point deduction for Juventus

ROME : An Italian soccer prosecutor has requested that Juventus be docked nine points in Serie A this season because of the way it accounted for player transfers.

The request was made at a hearing on Friday looking at the way Juve, Italy's most successful club, and a number of other teams dealt with player exchange deals.

A source close to the matter confirmed Italian media reports of the demand for Juventus to be docked points. Other clubs involved would not be punished as severely.

Juve are currently third in Serie A, 10 points adrift of leaders Napoli after 18 games.

Giuseppe Chine, the soccer prosecutor, also requested that former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli be banned from holding office in Italian soccer for 16 months, and sought a 20-month ban for Fabio Paratici, who was the club's sports director.

Paratici is now managing director of football at England's Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

Juventus have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting was in line with industry standards.

Juve and other clubs will give their defence on Friday before the soccer court decides on its verdict.

The case centred on the values attached to players exchanged between clubs.

The capital gain from a player transfer goes straight onto a club's accounts while the cost of a purchase can be spread over the life of a contract, creating scope to flatter the balance sheet with inflated valuations.