If English football needed proof of how hard it is to dispel the clouds cast by a major financial scandal, they need only look at Italy.
While Manchester City start to confront accusations of financial breaches, Juventus have been under investigation for almost two years… 🧵
Scrutiny on #Juve has been four-pronged:
▪️ Inspections & audits conducted
▪️ Prosecutors in Turin wire-tapped executives & carried out searches
▪️ Disciplinary proceedings brought against Juve & other clubs last April
▪️ UEFA have opened investigation into potential breaches
Proceedings brought by the federal prosecutor of the Italian Football Federation (IFF) prompted punishments: a 15-point penalty, a two-year ban from Italian football for former chairman Andrea Agnelli & a 30-month ban for former sporting director Fabio Paratici, now at Tottenham.
Juventus were asked for information regarding transfer revenue. They'd raised astonishing income from player trading — €157m for 2018-19 & €172m for 2019-20.
What intrigued CONSOB, the Italian equivalent of the US securities & exchange commission, was ‘plusvalenze’.
Plusvalenze is the Italian term for capital gains, accrued from cross-transactions — the criteria used to value the players involved and the effects on a listed company’s accounts.
Colloquially, football fans and media alike have tended to think of them as swap deals.
The most high-profile cross-transaction or swap deal happened in 2020 when Miralem Pjanic & Arthur traded places.
Juventus valued Pjanic, who had just turned 30, at €60m. Barcelona considered Arthur worth €72m.
Only €12m in actual money changed hands.
COVISOC, a watchdog supervising Italian football, passed on a list to IFF president Gabriele Gravina flagging 62 transfers involving 11 Italian clubs between 2019 and 2021.
Forty-two were done by Juventus, of which 36 included lesser-known youngsters.
Of particular interest to investigators was a piece of paper that turned up during the search of Juventus’ premises.
Branded “disturbing”, it was found among Juve director Federico Cherubini’s things & entitled ‘Libro Nero FP’ – ‘Black Book FP’, the initials of Fabio Paratici.
On the paper, Cherubini listed four sections: management, strategy, relationships, behaviour.
“How did we get here?” he wrote. “Senseless signings.”
Dejan Kulusevski - now at Tottenham - is named as a player for whom, in Cherubini’s opinion, Juventus paid over the odds.
Inside the Juventus crisis: The Paratici ‘black book’, Chiellini’s WhatsApps and Ronaldo’s wages.
The full story, by @JamesHorncastle… second thread coming soon ⤵️
theathletic.com/4141896/?sourc…
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