Juventus have suffered another setback on the football angle as they have been docked 10 points by an Italian court leading to the loss of their UEFA Champions League slot next season.
This comes after their initial sentence of a 15-point docking was suspended in April, leading to them rising back up the Serie A table. The origin of these points deductions is a corruption case involving several high-profile figures at the club who manipulated the finances of the club for various reasons.
Former president Andrea Agnelli was suspended for a period of time from football activities alongside many others, including Fabio Paratici, who had left the club years prior and was working at Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur during the investigations.
The 10-point deduction sees them fall to seventh on the table, five points away from AC Milan, who move up to fourth place on the table to take their Champions League spot. This means they will miss out on next season’s Champions League as there are only two games left to play in the league this season.
The club, who lost 4 – 1 to Empoli following the announcement, put out a statement on Twitter stating that they have taken note of the court’s decision and will appeal the judgement in due time. The judgement came after the initial 15-point docking was revisited in a new trial on Monday.
The head prosecutor of the case, Giuseppe Chine had requested an 11-point deduction in the new hearing, two points more than he requested at the initial hearing which saw the Bianconeri docked 15 points.
He also requested for some of the members of the board of directors of the club, who resigned en masse after the first points deduction, to be handed eight month bans from football activities. One of them was former Juventus winger Pavel Nedved, who served as the club’s director until his resignation in January. The court absolved them from the incidents.
New misdemeanours have also come to light in that time accusing Juventus of false communication, market manipulation among other things.
Last week, the Italian Soccer Federation charged them with alleged fraud for some of their financial dealings during the coronavirus pandemic. The hearing for that case could see Juventus receive further punishment which could effectively see them kicked out of the Italian top flight.
The new ruling read: “The Federal Court of Appeals hereby absolves Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti, Assia Grazioli Venier, Caitlin Mary Hughes, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio, and Enrico Vellano from the alleged offences and imposes a 10-point deduction on Juventus in the standings, to be applied for the current season.”
