Italian justice is closely interested in the accounts of the football club Juventus. The Italian police financial squad raided the club’s offices, as part of an investigation into player movements over the past three seasons, and how the annual financial results were presented between 2019 and 2021.
Juventus are suspected of giving false information to investors, and of having produced invoices for non-existent transactions, the Turin prosecutor’s office reported on Friday evening (November 26th).
The Italian Federation has launched its own investigation
According to Italian media, six leaders of the Turin club are in the crosshairs of the financial brigade. The club, in a statement released on Saturday evening, confirmed that among them were the president, Andrea Agnelli, the vice-president and former Czech player, Pavel Nedved, as well as the former sporting director Fabio Paratici, who now works in England, in Tottenham.
According to the Italian national press agency ANSA, on Saturday morning, investigators are particularly interested in the arrival of Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018 for 100 million euros, then his return to Manchester United last August for 15 million. euros, plus 8 million euros optional depending on the player’s athletic performance.
Last month, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) launched its own investigation into a string of questionable transfers, most of those moves involving Juventus. Some would have given rise to an artificial inflation of the value of the players, for accounting reasons, or to the exchanges of players to make it possible to balance the accounts.