Juventus, involved in a scandal in Italy: they ask for his demotion and withdrawal of titles if accusations of tax fraud are proven

The Italian Consumers Association (Codacons) asked this Monday that Juventus Turin be sanctioned with the demotion and that the titles won be revoked in the event that the “very harsh accusations” for tax fraud and the issuance of invoices are confirmed false in the sale of players.

“If the accusations are confirmed, the ‘bianconero’ club will have to descend and the last titles will have to be revoked. The lawful competition between clubs in the Italian Serie A was falsified, ”the Codacons reported in a statement.

“As a form of protection against the deceived fans, the Association presents an appeal to Antitrust (the guaranteeing body of competition in Italy) and to the Prosecutor’s Office,” he added.

The Juventus headquarters were searched last Friday night by order of the Turin City Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the club’s board of directors for the purchase of footballers and other unclear operations in the last three years.

The agents of the Finance Guard (tax affairs police) accessed the Juventus headquarters with the order to collect documentation related to the accounts for the 2019-2021 period and collected information on the sale of players and on the formation of budgets.

There are more than 280 million ($ 315 million) of capital gains related to the sale of players that are considered unclear.

Among those investigated is the leadership of Juventus: from the president, Andrea Agnelli, to the vice president, the Czech Pavel Nedved, to the former sports director, Fabio Paratici, now at Tottenham.

Juventus, a club that is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, said in a note that it is willing to collaborate with the investigators and defended that it acted in compliance with current rules.

“The accusations are very serious and raise doubts about the last soccer championships, even because, as we know, there was a real ‘bianconero’ dominance in recent years,” said Codacons president Marco Donzelli.

“If Juventus had illegally benefited from rival clubs with operations of this type, then the last championships would be irregular and, incidentally, the Federation will have to intervene and punish those responsible. The club, beyond the people, cannot escape punishment ”, he added.

Juventus has entered a deep process of involution in the last two years and the start of the sports season has been very negative.

The team is eighth in the standings and is closer to relegation (11 points) than to the lead (14 points).

Last year he handed over the championship of Italy after nine consecutive titles and was eliminated in the knockout stages of the Champions League in the last two seasons, against Lyon and Porto. (D)