Juventus and seven of their former or current directors including Andrea Agnelli and Fabio Paratici have been charged by the FIGC for their alleged usage of ‘salary manoeuvres’.
Calciomercato.com explains how FIGC prosecutor Giuseppe Chiné has charged the Bianconeri and seven people for multiple acts, including the now infamous agreements to privately pay their players at various points despite publicly stating that these wages had been waived.
The seven former or current directors involved are: Andrea Agnelli, Pavel Nedved, Fabio Paratici, Federico Cherubini, Giovanni Manna, Paolo Morganti and Stefano Braghin. The trial is expected to take place sometime in June.
Chiné has accused the parties of violating Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Sporting Justice Code on four counts: the salary manoeuvre for the 2019-20 season, the one for the 2020-21 season, the agents’ agreements and the partnerships with other clubs.
The FIGC’s explanation of the first salary manoeuvre:
“As regards the 2019-20 salary manoeuvre, Andrea Agnelli and Fabio Paratici are accused of violating art. 4, paragraph 1, of the Sports Justice Code (“principles of fairness, correctness and probity”), for having deposited with the Lega Serie A the agreements to reduce 4 monthly salaries (March, April, May and June 2020) of 21 players (Bentancur, Bernardeschi, Bonucci, Chiellini, Cuadrado, Danilo, De Ligt, De Sciglio, Demiral, Douglas Costa, Dybala, Higuain, Khedira, Alex Sandro, Matuidi, Pjanic, Rabiot, Ramsey, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rugani, Szczesny) and coach Sarri, failing to deposit the economic agreements of integration or recovery of 3 of the 4 waived monthly salaries (April, May, June 2020) already concluded with the same players and with the coach, in the knowledge that the economic agreements containing the salary integrations for the recovery of the waived monthly salaries would be deposited after June 30 2020, i.e. after the closure of the accounting year on June 30 2020, as then actually happened.”
The FIGC’s explanation of the second salary manoeuvre:
“The same violation, and in this case among the executives under investigation is also Pavel Nedved, is contested for the 2020-21 season, in relation to the salary reduction agreements of amounts substantially equal to 4 monthly payments (March, April, May and June 2020) of 17 players (Bentancur, Bernardeschi, Bonucci, Chiesa, Cuadrado, Danilo, Kulusevski, Alex Sandro, McKennie, Rabiot, Szczesny, Demiral, Ramsey, Arthur, Chiellini, Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo) in the knowledge that there would be no actual reduction in salary, since the same amounts would be paid to the same players (a circumstance that did not occur only for Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo) in the following football seasons, as already agreed between the parties through private agreements not recorded on federal forms (the so-called ‘side letters’).
“This circumstance then actually occurred through the filing, after June 30 2021, the closing date of the 2021 financial year (except for Arthur, who received the salary amounts waived in the 2022/23 season as a leaving incentive) of economic agreements for salary integration. All this, moreover, in order to defer to the following financial years (2022 and, for some, even 2023) the costs related to the amounts waived by the players before June 30 2021, thereby violating the accounting principle of economic competence and, therefore, violating the principle of par condicio with the other sister clubs of Lega Serie A, in terms of economic and financial balance.”
The FIGC’s explanation of the agents’ agreements:
“With regard to the third line of investigation, that relating to relations with agents, Agnelli, Paratici, Nedved, and also Cherubini, Manna, Morganti, Braghin, each within their respective spheres of competence, are charged with violation of art. 4, paragraph 1, of the Sports Justice Code, for having violated the principles of fairness, correctness and probity, both autonomously and in violation and/or avoidance of the provisions of art. 6.2, paragraph 7, of the Regulations of Sports Agents of the FIGC and in concurrence with some agents in relation to a series of transfers, contract renewals or signing of professional contracts.
“In these different situations between 2015 and 2022, according to the Prosecutor’s Office the club would have remunerated sports agents for player transfer transactions in the absence of any real intermediation activity of the agent; would have used, in relation to the transfer of certain players, a sports agent without any mandate; or in other cases would have given a ‘fictitious/untrue’ mandate to another agent or they would have remunerated an agent with a fee in the absence of a real intermediation activity in order to compensate and settle the debts owed to the agent for the negotiation of another football player who at the material time was a minor or ‘young player’ (for whom, therefore, no fee could have been agreed).
“In this regard, a copy of the investigative acts relating to the conduct of the agents under investigation (Davide Lippi, Gabriele Giuffrida, Giorgio Parretti, Antonio Rebesco, Luca Ariatti, Silvio Pagliari, Giuseppe Galli, Michele Fioravanti, Luca Puccinelli, Tullio Tinti, Vincenzo Morabito) was forwarded to the Federal Sports Agents Commission, for the matters falling within its competence.
“The transactions for which charges are being contested against the Juventus directors and agents concern Spinazzola’s transfer to Roma (dated June 30 2019), Sene to Basel, Chiellini’s renewal, Rafia’s loan with obligation of redemption to Standard De Liege (August 2021), Francofonte’s loan to Sampdoria (January 2020), Marricchi’s transfer to Novara (August 2019), Kameraj’s transfer to Lugano, Petrelli’s renewal, the transfer (January 2019) from Genoa of Zanimacchia Luca, the transfer from Pescara of Brunori (2019-20 football season), the contract extension of Ranocchia, the transfer, on 22 June 2021, to Lecce of Olivieri, the transfer of Clemenza to Pescara (August 31 2021), the signing of the professional contract of Rosa, Wesley, Manolo.”
The FIGC’s explanation of the partnerships with other clubs:
“Finally, in relation to the last aspect, concerning partnerships, the same violation of article 4, paragraph 1, of the Sports Justice Code, is alleged, in addition to Paratici, also to Gabasio, a person who carried out activities within or in the interest of the company Juventus, for having violated the principles of loyalty, fairness and probity, in relation to the fact of having negotiated, signed or otherwise agreed with the companies Sampdoria, Atalanta, Sassuolo, Udinese, Bologna and Cagliari confidential agreements concerning market transactions relating to the purchase and/or sale and/or redemption of players, without submitting the relevant federal forms to Lega Serie A and/or submitting federal forms containing agreements that differed in whole or in part from those actually entered into, thereby blatantly evading the federal regulations which, for reasons of transparency, require adequate evidence to be provided of agreements concerning the transfer of players’ registration rights.
“In this regard, the positions of the clubs and their respective executives who carried out such relations with Juventus will be assessed at the outcome of the further investigations underway, which are currently covered by investigative secrecy, following the transmission of the criminal investigation documents by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office to the competent public prosecutors on February 24 2023.”
Relegate these thieves to Lega Pro this time. That club and its cheating culture must stop allready.