Andrea Agnelli listed Juventus‘ achievements during his tenure and defended the Super League in his last speech as the Old Lady’s President.
Agnelli’s speech opened today’s board of directors in Turin. He and the previous board members, including Maurizio Arrivabene and Pavel Nedved, had resigned on November 28.
“First of all, I want to remember to captains of Juventus who we recently lost, Castano and Vialli. I ask you to observe a minute’s silence,” said Agnelli.
“I can’t hide my emotion, a chapter of Juventus’ history ends today.”
Agnelli was among the architects of the breakaway Super League in 2021, along with La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona who are still formally part of the competition. Most of his speech was focused on the current status of football and the reasons why the Super League was necessary.
“We’ve seen transitions at Chelsea, Milan, Newcastle, Atalanta and Leeds. Consortiums like Chelsea, RedBird’s Milan, PIF’s Newcastle and Pagliuca for Atalanta,” said Agnelli.
“We are witnessing an expanding phenomenon such as multi properties. CityGroup, RedBull, RedBird, 777.
“We have no certain data, but Goldman&Sachs is investing €1b in football, there is an interest in the sector.
“To me, Governors didn’t provide a suitable answer, they haven’t evolved and don’t see the difference between game and business.
“Differences are becoming more and more evident. As a UEFA member and ECA President, the analysis was clear. The system was not sustainable, and clubs were the only ones taking risks. There was disaffection from fans and we’ve often been criticised for highlighting this, which is becoming clear also to those managing the ‘middle’ level.
“Our proposal was to create an ecosystem for the leading European leagues to increase stability, keeping a balance between national and European competitions.
“Serie A has had only 68 teams since it became a unique league almost 100 years ago. It’s a system open to everyone based on sporting competitiveness. UEFA and ECA proposed it in 2019, then I don’t need to remember what happened. There was COVID and I don’t want to touch that part,” he continued.
“If I wanted to keep my privileged position as ECA President, I wouldn’t have taken certain decisions in 2021. European football needs structural changes otherwise, we will decline, favouring the Premier League, which will dominate.
“The current regulators do not want to hear about football’s problems. They are in a monopoly position and I hope the European Court will recognise UEFA’s dominant position.”
Agnelli continued his speech by listing the club’s achievements during his tenure. The senior team won 19 trophies, the Women’s team was established in 2017 and has gone on to win five Serie A titles in a row, among other trophies.
Agnelli also listed all his closest collaborators, including Fabio Paratici and Beppe Marotta and all the coaches he hired during his tenure: Antonio Conte, Massimiliano Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo.
He also revealed that he would take a break stepping down as a board member of Exor and Stellantis, ‘in agreement’ with his cousin John.
Gianluca Ferrero will formally be confirmed as Juventus’ President today, while Maurizio Scanavino is already operative as the club’s new CEO.