Scanavino: ‘Verdict unjust and unequal against Juventus’

New Juventus CEO Maurizio Scanavino insists the 15-point penalty is an ‘unjust and unequal’ verdict, warning ‘what happens to Juventus today could happen to any other club tomorrow.’

The game with Atalanta kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium at 19.45 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.

This is the first match since the Bianconeri were docked 15 Serie A points over artificially inflated transfer fees to boost capital gains, thereby allowing the club to balance the books.

It saw them plummet from third place to 10^th in the table, not to mention coming just a week after their 5-1 defeat to leaders Napoli.

“On behalf of everyone at the club I would like to distance ourselves from those pseudofans who used language of hate and threats towards President of the FIGC Gravina and his partner and the prosecutor Chiné,” Scanavino told DAZN.

“We will support our position with strength, but always great competence, professionalism and respect.

“Clearly, we consider this sentence to be absolutely unjust and unequal. We await the motivation, but will certainly appeal to the CONI to support our position, which is very solid, clear and has already been accepted during the ordinary justice process. We will continue along that path.

“It is not just us at Juventus and our fans who consider it to be unjust. I also wish to thank the fans of other clubs, people who worked in football for a long time, who have important television and social media positions, who understood how unequal and unfair this ruling was.

“The federal justice system can act in a summary and unjust fashion, which causes worry, because today it happens to Juventus and tomorrow it could happen to any other club.”

As part of the punishment, Federico Cherubini was suspended from working in football, so the club had to appoint Francesco Calvo as new CFO.

“Cherubini has the role of director of sport, so has various things he works on, but clearly he is banned and therefore cannot work on the transfer market. We worked within the club yesterday and decided to name Francesco Calvo as Chief Football Officer, so bringing all those different threads under his purview.”

This could be just the tip of the iceberg, especially as this verdict does not even touch other transfers that were mentioned in the wiretapped conversations or the wages that were paid ‘under the table’ after announcing the players would give up four months of their salary.

“This sentence shows there is no point being optimistic or pessimistic, we simply have to be ready. Although we were not expecting this sentence, it was on the list of possible outcomes, so we are not unprepared.

“We have a group of well-prepared lawyers and will continue to defend ourselves with strength and determination.”

Scanavino and new President Gianluca Ferrero met with the Juventus squad yesterday, so how did he find their mood?

“I saw great unity. I was also a little surprised, as perhaps it is my first experience, but the squad was very calm and determined, we had already outlined the situation the club was going through and they were well aware of it. Some of the messages we saw them post on social media also confirmed their mood and it’s all good.”

Purely on a sporting level, how do Juventus go forward from here and will they hire different figures in future?

“As you can imagine, this is a strange period, we need to set priorities. We have some very clear and solid ideas, so we expect many points to arrive on the field too. It is important to maintain a certain discipline and organisation. After this phase, we will see what the situation is.”

Scanavino’s arrival was also seen by some as drawing a line under the previous administration and trying to distance the Juventus brand from some of the behaviour of the directors that resigned.

“Everyone has their own characteristics, we do not need to disconnect ourselves from anyone. We are a group of professionals dedicated to dealing with the club on a sporting, organisation and judicial level. The President did not want to distance us from anyone, but rather focus on being professional and organised.”