Former Juventus President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli pin-points Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival as the moment it all went wrong for the club, while Andrea Agnelli ‘changed’ after pushing Beppe Marotta out.
The Bianconeri are under investigation from the FIGC, UEFA and the public prosecutor in Turin over allegations of financial irregularities, including inflated capital gains and wages paid under the table to hide these costs from the balance sheet.
The entire Board of Directors resigned on Monday evening, including President Agnelli, sparking the worst crisis since Calciopoli.
It was after that demotion to Serie B and the removal of two Serie A titles in 2006 that Cobolli Gigli took over at Juventus, remaining until 2009.
“The magistrates will evaluate and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is valid for everyone,” Cobolli Gigli told Il Messaggero newspaper.
“Having said that, Juve are certainly tangled up in a series of situations and the problems started a long way back. You see, when Andrea Agnelli became President, it was a positive thing, but also risky for him with that surname and responsibility.
“The first phase was very good with the fundamental help of Beppe Marotta to revitalise the team, putting together nine consecutive Serie A titles. But it all changed with the Ronaldo operation.”
The Portuguese legend arrived for €117m from Real Madrid in 2018 and won plenty of silverware, including the Capocannoniere title, but also cost over €30m per season in wages.
“Agnelli was talked into signing Ronaldo because it would bring enormous marketing revenue and get Juve closer to the Champions League.
“However, Marotta did not agree with that at all and he stepped aside. Afterwards, the investment in Ronaldo was proved to be too expensive. Meanwhile Fabio Paratici, who had pushed for the CR7 signing, also got Juve into more investments that weighed on the balance sheet and put the club in trouble.
“It’s no coincidence if they had to raise €700m in fresh capital… Meanwhile more mistakes, like hiring Maurizio Sarri, and slip-ups like the Luis Suarez Italian citizenship test, or the Super League project. There must’ve been a big change in Agnelli’s outlook.
“Agnelli always had a more elevated vision of the horizon for Juve, like the Super League, but he also took on too much and neglected to keep the board informed, which you cannot do with a club floated on the stock exchange.”
The other development was that John Elkann, the head of Juventus parent company Exor, lost confidence in Agnelli and effectively pulled the plug on that board.
“He evidently had a radical change of opinion. Now he has opened up a new phase and Juventus can reboot.”
Juventus and other clubs were already cleared over the inflated capital gains because it is impossible to prove how much a player is worth other than the transfer fee two clubs agree on.
However, the problem this time is that the investigation has reportedly turned up paperwork showing Juve paid players under the table to remove these costs from the balance sheet.
“I don’t think the capital gains will be an issue, but the delayed payment of wages will be,” continued Cobolli Gigli.
“If there really is this rumoured private contract showing Cristiano Ronaldo is owed €19m, then that would be a smoking gun.
“But it’s too early to say now, we have to wait and see what the magistrates say. I am also certain John Elkann’s lawyers will find the best approach.”
this is pure comedy
Ronaldo also went wrong by picking the Wendy’s of Europe. When you go from a 3 michelin star Madrid to dining with talents such as Roberto Carlos and Cafu what could go wrong.
How do you think Manchester feels?
Nah. Covid happened. No one could predict that
It was a bad football decision too. R7 coming in killed Higuan’s enthusiasm, and later dybala. And im sure allegri, sarri, pirlo would rather have not had him. AA’s biggest mistake
In 1982 there was the betting ‘scandal’ involving Rossi and in 2006 there were relegations following ‘calciopoli’. It’s a shame Italy didn’t qualify for this WC this time – bad news seems to bring good results.
hiring Sarri was a mistake????
manga cake – how manchester feels – well thr owners are selling the club – up for sale, but it has nothing to do with this