Fabio Paratici and 11 other former Juventus executives were due in court this week for a preliminary committal hearing.
However, for administrative reasons, this has now been delayed until May 10, though Juve’s legal representative Maurizio Bellacosa has claimed this is a ‘completely normal’ outcome for now.
But what have Juventus been charged with? How is Paratici involved and what implications do they have on his current club, Tottenham?
It’s important to note that this court hearing is only in relation to certain allegations against Juventus.
The club have been accused of false corporate communications, false communications to the stock market and obstruction of watchdog agencies.
It is alleged that Juventus sought to artificially inflate their transfer revenue in an attempt to ease their financial woes. The hearing will determine whether to indict Juve’s former executives and make them stand trial.
However, this hearing does not relate to their 15-point deduction in Serie A following an investigation into financial irregularities and false accounting – the Board of Guarantors of the Italian Olympic Committee will make a ruling on that on April 19.
The Italian FA are also continuing an investigation into illegal salary manoeuvres made by Juventus.
READ NEXT
Paratici served as Juventus’ sporting director from 2010 to 2021, playing a huge role in the Turin club’s resurgence in Italy.
He received a 30-month ban from Italian football by the Italian FA for his senior role in Juve’s alleged financial mismanagement. Infamous ex-chairman Andrea Agnelli (two years) and former executive Pavel Nedved (eight months) also received bans – they and the rest of the Juventus board resigned when the case was brought to light in November 2022.
These suspensions could be lifted if Juventus are cleared of any wrongdoing, but will be upheld and expected to be expanded to the rest of the world by UEFA and FIFA otherwise.
Juventus are playing on through their Serie A deduction and currently sit seventh in the table with 41 points. Should their points be reinstated, they would rise to second in the table, with Lazio currently occupying that spot with 52.
What is likely to hurt Juve are the knock-on effects of the deduction. It is currently unlikely that they will qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League via their Serie A finish, though are one of the stronger outfits left in this year’s UEFA Europa League.
Their need to cover up financial losses by inflating transfer fees suggests…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at 90min EN…