Because of the "salary gate" scandal, former Juventus chairman Agnelli was sentenced by the Court of Sports to participate in football-related activities for 16 months. In addition to the previous "asset appreciation gate" of 24 months, he was banned from participating in football-related activities for a total of 40 moon.
The result of the judgment is not surprising, if the nature of the salary gate is considered: private salary agreements with players, but not filed in Serie A. In European football, it is a common practice to prohibit illegal contracts in terms of salary, which not only helps protect labor rights, but more importantly, regulates club operations and ensures basic transparency. Compared with asset appreciation scandals, contract violations have very specific penalties in each league.
The Juventus club and other executives involved in the case had previously chosen to reach a plea settlement agreement with the Football Association prosecutors in exchange for a lighter punishment, only a fine without penalty points. And Agnelli himself insisted on continuing the lawsuit. Therefore, this trial cannot be avoided, and the punishment will definitely be inevitable. The original request submitted by the Football Association prosecutors to the court was to ban Agnelli from football-related activities for 20 months.
The verdict wasn't news, Agnelli didn't come out for a lengthy talk, and he didn't even attend the hearing. This is his consistent attitude. After the hearing notice, he replied that he could not attend because of the unadjustable work schedule. Anyway, Agnelli despises the entire sports justice system. The only thing he wants to do is to fight the lawsuit to the end. This is his attitude he has expressed long ago.
캡사이트 pointed out that this verdict proves that Erkann, head of the Agnelli family, asked Agnelli and others to resign collectively. Agnelli doesn't care how much Juventus has lost, he just wants to prove that he is correct and innocent, and he will listen to no one's advice. It is impossible for sports justice to sentence him to prison, which is the punishment within the industry, and Agnelli is ready to "I don't plead guilty anyway, and I won't be in the football circle at all." This attitude of contempt for sports justice is something Juventus itself cannot taken.
Since there is such a huge conflict between the club chairman and the club's interests, separation is absolutely necessary. After Juventus awarded another penalty point for the "asset appreciation gate" by the Football Association's appeal court, under the leadership of Calvo (the executive who was once cuckolded by Agnelli), he quickly embarked on the road of compromise and rushed to the end of the season Reached a plea deal with sports prosecutors.
Some media in Italy conducted simulation calculations on the situation of "Juventus not pleading guilty". Agnelli was banned from football for 24 months in the "asset gate" and 16 months in the "salary gate". The Juventus club was sentenced to deduct 10 points in the "asset appreciation gate". If they insist on pleading not guilty, they may be sentenced to deduct 6-7 points in the "salary gate" trial.
If it is indeed punished and deducted another 6-7 points, it will be a fatal decision, because Juventus will fall out of the top 7 and lose the UEFA Cup qualification. Once UEFA decides to ban Juventus from entering Europe, it needs to be implemented in the 2024-25 season after qualifying for the European war next season, which is equivalent to being punished for 2 consecutive years. On the contrary, through the plea agreement, Juventus retained the UEFA Cup qualification. If UEFA punishes it, Juventus will miss the European competition in the 2023-24 season and lose the UEFA Cup qualification obtained last season.
Of course, Agnelli is not only stubborn about this matter. Many of his actions in the later stage of Juventus, such as ignoring the warnings of financial personnel and insisting on illegal operations, are a series of serious psychological imbalances. Perhaps he really wanted to prove his prowess and ability to lead change within the family business.