Juventus capital gains: Public Prosecutor seeks to indict Agnelli, Nedved and senior directors on fraud charges

The explosive capital gains scandal that engulfed Juventus in 2022/23 has taken another twist, with senior figures from the club at risk of facing criminal prosecution. The Old Lady were hit with a 10-point penalty in 2023 and were banned from UEFA competition for 2023/24 after being found guilty of inflating valuations on their balance sheet to meet Financial Fair Play parameters.

Meanwhile, then-president Andrea Agnelli led a wave of resignations when the scandal broke in November 2022, and was later hit with a 24-month ban from football, whilst Maurizio Arrivabene and Federico Cherubini had 16-month suspensions upheld after appeal, due to the federal prosecutor’s office and Court of Appeals interpretation of Article 4.

Juventus hierarchy could face criminal prosecution

However, as reported by Sportface.it, the Public Prosecution Office in Rome is continuing it's investigation into the matter and will seek the indictment of senior figures previously involved in the club.

Agnelli, as well as Arrivabene, Cherubini, and Pavel Nedved are now at risk of being put on trial in Italy's criminal courts, despite the latter seeing his ban from footballing activities overturned on appeal.

The Public Prosecution Office accuse the Juventus top brass of various levels of fraudulent activity, ranging from invoice manipulation to stock market manipulation, with around a dozen charges in total to be levelled at the directorship.

What happened at Juventus?

The news that originally broke on November 28, 2022, when the entire Juventus board resigned, came as the club were being investigated for suspicious transfer activity whereby they allegedly inflated values of players for reasons of capital gains.

The financial statements from 2018, 2019 and 2020 were looked into by investigators, in addition to questions regarding allegedly deferred payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the spring and summer of 2020, as many as 23 Juventus players agreed to reduce their salaries over a four-month period at the club. This was thought to be to help the club navigate its way through a trying financial period.

However, it was later alleged that the players’ salaries were paid, but in a way that would have permitted for tax payments to be avoided by both club and player and for it to seem as though Juventus’ books balanced. As a result, Juventus were hit with a 10-point deduction in 2022/23 and banned from UEFA competition the following season.

Away from the pitch, the legal battle continues to rumble on as those accused of involvement face the possibility of criminal convictions. Whilst the club have served a sporting punishment and will return to the Champions League this season, the case is set to focus on Agnelli and his team of former directors.