Juventus

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri urged his team to "do their duty" on the pitch after the Serie A side were deducted 15 points by an Italian soccer ...

We face a challenge and maybe we will be able to do something extraordinary. "We don't have to think about starting again. "We have the Europa League, we have the Coppa Italia and we have 60 league points to play for. With 20 league games left to play this season, Juventus were third in Serie A with 37 points, 10 behind leaders Napoli. The legal proceedings concern the company and there will be an appeal. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story

No sooner had Juventus appointed their new board this week, than the Bianconeri were back in the news after the Italian FA deducted them 15 points and ...

That would be classified as financial fraud given that Juventus are a publicly traded company with legal obligations to the stock market, any evidence of this would be classified as financial fraud. That is why, despite the fact that two sides must agree on a transfer fee, no other club has been punished at this time. Former President Andrea Agnelli and ex-CEO Maurizio Arrivabene were each handed two-year bans, while Sporting Director Federicio Cherubini was given 16-months. The reasons for such a severe penalty will likely be revealed in the next 10 days, but it is important to remember that the points deductions and the bans were the result of a Juventus appeal. Ultimately, that all led to Friday’s news that the club would be handed a 15-point deduction, as well as bans for the key figures involved. The authority responsible for regulating the Italian securities market, known as CONSOB, discovered that a number of players had signed agreements to reduce their salaries in order to help the club through that extremely difficult period but were allegedly actually given that money “in the black.”

The club, now drops down to 10th position in the league and are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League next season.

We request you to support our award-winning journalism by making a financial contribution towards the Scroll Ground Reporting Fund. Agnelli and the rest of the Juve board stepped down in November under pressure from the criminal investigation, with a new board led by Gianluca Ferrero being appointed earlier this week. Juve will know after a preliminary hearing in March if they and the former members of the club’s board will stand criminal trial over alleged false accounting. The decision to dock Juve points came as the FIGC reopened a trial which had ended last year with Juve and a host of other clubs including Serie A leaders Napoli being acquitted. Missing out on Europe’s top – and richest – club competition would be a further blow to the club’s accounts which last season were nearly 239 million euros in the red. The FIGC said in a statement that the points sanction was to be inflicted this season, a huge blow to Juve whose chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League are now greatly compromised.

Juventus have been deducted 15 points by the Italian Football Federation, but why does the Old Lady find itself in hot water again?