The settlement puts an end to two years of legal battle and any appeals. But now the case moves to Europe
The 24 hours that changed the two years of the long story of capital gains and wage maneuvers (together with irregular relationships with sports agents and suspicious partnerships) with Juve at the center have come to an end. This time the predictions of the eve were respected: Juve and the federal prosecutors negotiated as required by the Code of sports justice, and the National Federal Court gave the go-ahead. Juve, and its managers or former managers blamed, all but Andrea Agnelli, have renounced appeals inside and outside the system, both to sports justice (minus 10 on capital gains to the guarantee college) and to administrative justice (the Tar and in the case the Council of State). On the other hand, the federal prosecutor’s office accepted a purely monetary sanction: for Juve it is a fine of 718 thousand euros, overall considering all the accused, it reaches one million euros. Agnelli, on the other hand, who apparently said he was available to plea bargain, did not want to give up the possibility of appeals. And therefore his position has been removed: he will go to trial on June 15th.
The last hours
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The decisive acceleration in the matter had been somehow revealed by Francesco Calvo in his statements before the match against Milan. In particular, the head of the Juventus sports area had used an expression, “water under the bridge”, referring to the judicial case of the capital gains and at least 10. Not so much an indirect indication of what was happening. The plea deal, wrecked before the referral, had become a viable path. For Juve it was too important to write the final word, at least in the Italian context, on the matter. At the same time, for the Football Federation and its justice system, avoiding further queues, with months of appeals and counter-appeals, and putting the admission of the legitimacy of the minus 10 in the records, was worth more than the possibility of a new trial, with all the unknowns that this entailed. Not surprisingly, federal president Gabriele Gravina spoke of a “good result for Italian football”. The risk of a summer in which there would have been more talk of trials than of football has been averted.
Rest l’Uefa
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At this point, of course, the question mark called UEFA remains. Obviously the Football Federation cannot guarantee a soft hand internationally, but it is clear that the conclusion of Italian hostility cannot be ignored. The maximum risk should be that of a European ban for a single season. In case Juve could be deprived of the right to participate in the next Conference League (or in the case, Europa League). The ghost of a multi-year sanction is receding. Although perhaps it is too early in this case to hazard a definitive prediction on this front.
May 30, 2023 (change May 30, 2023 | 3:16 pm)
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