More details are emerging on the 99-page appeal that Juventus presented against the 15-point penalty, including the argument that inflated capital gains do not alter results on the field.
The Bianconeri were docked 15 points for artificially inflating transfer fees to boost their capital gains, but as this was only an appeal against an original ruling that cleared all the clubs under accusation, Juve have a good chance of overturning the verdict.
The entire situation was opened up again because of new evidence provided by the civil investigation into Juve’s finances, known as the Prisma investigation, above all wiretapped phone calls.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, news agency ANSA and Calcio e Finanza have examined the appeal and outlined some of the main points presented by Juve’s lawyers.
“The Federal Court of Appeal used elements of the penal investigation to create a new ‘crime’ against those who were deferred” originally for something else.
Juventus were therefore not in a position to defend themselves against the new evidence or the new accusations.
Among the main issues is the argument that docking Juventus 15 points for inflated capital gains is unfair because this “does not alter sporting results” on the field.
It is argued that boosting capital gains is a two-way street, not just for one club, as both clubs necessarily benefit from the deal.
The capital gains “do not provide any liquidity, for example that can be used on the transfer market.”
There is always the crucial element at the heart of this and any future investigation – that it is practically impossible to independently ascertain how much a player is worth on the transfer market.
This is why Juve and all the other clubs were originally cleared and has still not really been resolved.