Juventus will reportedly argue in their appeal against the 15-point Serie A penalty that the FIGC Prosecutor ignored some wiretap conversations that clear them of intentionally inflating transfer fees to boost capital gains.
The Bianconeri were the only club penalised for the capital gains accounting trick, as the original verdict was overturned in the light of new evidence.
That was provided by the Prisma investigation from the public prosecutor in Turin, who shared information with the FIGC prosecutor.
Juve cannot formalise their appeal until the written motivation for the verdict has been released, but there are already clues as to the approach they will take.
According to the latest reports in Calcio e Finanza, Juventus lawyers will argue that the FIGC prosecutor presented only cherry-picked evidence from wiretapped conversations and not others that could clear them.
Originally, it was ruled that nobody could independently verify the value of a player other than the fee two clubs agree to pay, so they could not be penalised for artificially inflating those values.
Juventus were punished largely because of the wiretapped conversations in which directors discussed transfers, acknowledging the players were ‘not worth’ those figures.
However, the club will present other wiretaps including a conversation between financial chief Stefano Bertola and transfer negotiator Federico Cherubini.
“No, no, if they are looking for some sort of malicious intent, they’re not going to find it,” said Bertola in the discussion recorded on July 15, 2021.
This was at the end of the discussion where Cherubini notes “Miralem Pjanic is worth €20m, but we sell him for €50m, every time a value is attributed, it might be considered more or less fair, but it’s not that it was meant on purpose.”
Juventus lawyers will argue that the prosecutor edited and presented the wiretaps to make them look incriminating.
To ono kad mi razglabamo pa kazemo ovaj vrijedi marku a oni dali 20...golemo sto bi rekli ali samo ima jedna istina o vrijednosti Pjanica, vrijedi onoliko koliko ga drugi hoce platiti...inace u vrijeme transfera u Barcu, Pjanic je vrijedio, pa transfermarktu 45M
20/21 Sep 1, 2020 Juventus Barcelona €45.00m €60.00m
Sports minister waiting to know why Juventus were punished
The sports minister in Italy, Andrea Abodi, insists we need to know why Juventus has been punished after the Bianconeri were docked 15 points for their use of capital gains.
It is a punishment that has affected the Bianconeri immediately and they will now struggle to finish this season in the European spots.
One question being asked by fans and pundits is why other clubs involved with the black and whites in the capital gains haven’t been punished as well.
One way to make this clear is to reveal the real reason Juve has been docked this many points and Abodi also wants to know.
He said via Tuttomercatoweb:
Decisions are known unlike the reasons, which represent a fundamental element. I think everyone needs to know them, in all contexts, explaining is as important as deciding. I too, respecting the roles that everyone must have clearly, look forward to the reasons for this decision.”
I mi bi da znamo
Ivan Zazzaroni explains why Juventus alone was punished
TV presenter Ivan Zazzaroni has commented on Juventus’ punishment for their involvement in capital gains after the Bianconeri were docked 15 league points.
Juve has been under investigation on several points and was initially cleared of every wrongdoing in the capital gains case.
However, the FIGC reopened it and swiftly handed a ban to Max Allegri’s men, making it difficult for them to make the top four this term.
It takes an agreement between two parties for the transfer value of a player to be inflated, which means Juve shouldn’t be the only club penalised.
However, Zazzaroni claims they have been punished alone because they are a publicly traded company.
He said via Tuttomercatoweb:
“Juventus was penalised compared to the others as the only team listed on the stock exchange and was therefore punished for a matter of transparency towards shareholders. The picture of what happened is clear enough to date, although there will be waiting official reasons from the court.”
Juve FC Says
As one of the top sides in Italy as well as a club on the stock exchange, we cannot act as freely as other clubs, which is a problem for us now.
The club’s executive should know this, which is why they insist on appealing the decision.
Ako ovo ima u Talijanskom zakonu, i ako mogu dokazati transfere
Radio show host says Juventus has been summarily executed
Juventus’ 15-point deduction as a punishment from the FIGC is a summary execution and not just a penalty, reckons radio show host Giuseppe Cruciani.
The Bianconeri have become the scapegoat for investigators who have been scrutinising their capital gains case.
They accused the black and whites of deliberately using capital gains to their advantage and to also deceive investors.
Juve has vowed to fight the points deduction and Cruciani believes it was a death sentence. He said via Il Bianconero:
“The one against Juventus was not a sentence but a summary execution, the prosecutor took the papers of the ordinary trial, brought Juve back to trial and then sentenced her almost unappellablyis. In my opinion it was an abomination. The capital gains have been made by all the teams, I expect penalties also for the teams that have not had a power of attorney on their heels.”
Juve FC Says
We did business with other clubs, yet we alone have been handed a punishment, which makes it clear we were targeted by the authorities.
However, as the club maintains it is innocent, we expect to succeed in overturning the verdict when we appeal against the sentencing.
For now, the players must be focused on winning as many games as possible so we can still defy the odds and make the top four even if the verdict is not overturned eventually.
Ima tamo i ljudi sa mozgom...
Neki dan sam pisao da smo TARGET...
Grassani: ‘Juventus likely docked more points over wages’
Sporting justice expert Mattia Grassani warns that if the 15-point penalty was a surprise, then Juventus can expect far harsher punishment for the next trial into misleading statements on the payment of salaries.
The Bianconeri were docked 15 points after an appeal from the FIGC prosecutor using new wiretap evidence saw the original verdict overturned.
Indeed, the prosecutor had only requested a nine-point penalty, but the judge increased it to 15 points.
“Nobody expected the -15 verdict, as in Serie A we hadn’t seen such a strong punishment since the days of Calciopoli,” Grassani told GR Parlamento.
“The federal prosecutor has another dossier for another trial, the more slippery and delicate issue of the four months wages from the 2020 season affected by covid.
“If Giuseppe Chiné takes Juve and its directors to trial again, we could see more points docked.”
Before the appeal, it was assumed that it was very difficult to prove transfer fees were artificially inflated, which was indeed the original verdict passed on all the clubs involved.
However, when it comes to Juventus announcing that their squad would accept a four-month pay cut during the lockdown to help the club through the pandemic, there is a clearer paper trail showing all parties were fully aware this was not the arrangement.
The players only gave up one month and were promised the other three wage packets would be paid in alternative ways.
“If proportion has a value, then the second trial on the wages could be every bit as bad,” added Grassani, who works closely with Napoli.
“These are only predictions at this stage, but we are talking about a worrying aspect that has not been addressed and will be faced in the coming weeks. That procedure must be completed by the end of the season.”
Grassani also explained why it is less likely Napoli will face similar punishment for the Victor Osimhen transfer, which involves €20m valuation given to four players who practically never saw Lille.
“The investigation from the Naples public prosecutor started because the French prosecutors found some very clear irregularities in the Lille books. For the moment, there has been no progress from the opening of the investigation.
“The sporting justice system already rejected the case and we do not know if there is any new evidence that could affect that. Right now, we can say the investigation is still in the embryonic phase.
“Besides, it is also based on just one transfer, so a much more reduced phenomenon than the others under the spotlight.”
Logicki, ne moze se zuriti na sve strane...jedino se zuri po Juventusu...nekome je zaprpilo..
Onaj nas oslobodi, ovi pozure da nas osude, onaj hoce 9 bodova, ovi pozure sa 15...sto je sigurno, sigurno je..Italija, prelijepa zemlja
Lawyer insists Juventus case is different from Napoli’s over Osimhen
Napoli is the latest club whose transfer activity is being scrutinised as their move for Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen is now being probed.
This comes after Juventus was docked 15 points for using capital gains to gain an advantage over their rivals after inflating the value of players.
Napoli reportedly paid Lille around 70m euros for Osimhen, but 20m euros from that fee was based on the values of a number of players who the Partenopei added to the deal.
The Nigerian could fire the Naples side to win the league title this season and has been a superb contributor to their efforts in recent seasons.
Some Partenopei fans are worried their club could be in a similar problem as Juve, but Aurelio De Laurentiis’ criminal lawyer insists the cases are not similar.
Fabio Fulgeri said via Football Italia:
“The Osimhen case I don’t think can be compared to the Juventus case, Napoli didn’t do business with Juventus so they are not involved. If no new elements emerge everything should end well.
“An extension has been requested in order to study the material acquired, it takes the necessary time to judge the documents acquired.
“I cannot even know what the object of the verifications is, the investigations are secret, but the outlook is that the deal took place in a fair manner without falsification of the balance sheets.”
Juve FC Says
Now that Juve has been punished for capital gains, most Serie A clubs will be worried because the Bianconeri are certainly not the only club involved in it.
If Napoli had used it in the Osimhen transfer, they must be punished as Juve has been.
Mudro zbori....a i ja mudro zborim, non stop pisem da je Juventus target, niko drugi..
