LaLiga have demanded that immediate sanctions to be applied to Juventus following the shock resignation of the club’s board of directors on Monday night, including president Andrea Agnelli and vice president Pavel Nedved.
The Spanish top flight have issued a press release calling for sporting sanctions, with the Serie A giants’ entire board of directors unanimously resigning, after LaLiga had filed an official complaint against Juventus in April 2022.
The original April complaint was lodged with UEFA over breaches of financial fair play, and the club had previously been under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Turin.
The press release from LaLiga alleges that the Italian giants have ‘concealed’ the actual wage bill for their squad and ‘accounted for transfers above fair value.’
Managing director Maurizio Arrivabene is set to remain in charge of his administrative duties despite also resigning, with the club set to fall into a significant period of transition.
The 2021-22 season saw a year of record-breaking losses published by the Turin club, with a £220million (€254.3m) loss registered.
The decision for a mass exodus from the board – which was front page news in Italy on Tuesday – was made on the proposal of president Agnelli, after the board agreed that it was in the best interest of the club for a new group of executives to take over at Juventus.
LaLiga has called for immediate sporting sanctions after the resignation of Juventus’ entire board
The Old Lady had denied wrongdoing following allegations of false accounting and market manipulation in October, following an investigation into financial statements.
But in a press release issued on Tuesday, November 28, LaLiga insinuated that sanctions would represent a pursuit of ‘financially stable football in Europe’, aligning with the Spanish top-flight’s self-professed ‘campaign’.
‘Following the resignation of the Juventus board of directors late Monday Nov. 28, LaLiga demands immediate sports sanctions to be applied on the club,’ read the statement.
‘LaLiga filed an official complaint against Juventus with UEFA in April 2022 reporting financial fair play breaches being investigated by Italy´s Guardia di Finanza, an enforcement agency under the authority of the country´s Minister of Economy and Finance, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Turin.
‘Specifically, the complaint charges that Juventus accounted for transfers above fair value and under accounted for employee expenses, resulting in a breach of UEFA break even requirements. Additionally, the complaint charges that Juventus concealed the true wage bill of its players.
The exodus of the board of directors on the proposal of Andrea Agnelli made the front pages
Juventus won nine consecutive titles from 2010-20 but recorded record losses in 2020-21
‘This Monday, in the same statement announcing the resignation of its Board of Directors, Juventus acknowledges financial accounting irregularities, which are also aimed at misleading UEFA financial fair play authorities, among others.
‘As part of its campaign to promote financially sustainable football in Europe, LaLiga continues to pursue these complaints against Juventus and demands immediate sporting sanctions to be applied on the club by the relevant authorities.’
Juventus was not the only club targeted by LaLiga’s April complaint, which also alleged financial fair play breaches from French titans PSG and reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has been outspoken on the issue of financial stability, and has previously called for repercussions for lavish spending, particularly from PSG.
He called for the Ligue 1 champions to be held responsible for their financial activity after retaining French star Kylian Mbappe on a £650,000-a-week deal, despite reportedly making losses of £494million (€574m) between 2020 and 2022.
‘LaLiga has long been a major proponent for the implementation, application, and enforcement of strong financial sustainability rules in football,’ the press release continued.
Javier Tebas has been an outspoken proponent for financial regulation and consequences for irresponsible spending
‘In April of this year, LaLiga laid out complaints on financial fair play breaches filed with UEFA against Juventus, but also Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain.
‘The Spanish competition itself has applied its “economic control” rules for nearly a decade, at the request of the clubs that make up the league. Financial sustainability is paramount to protecting the business of football.
It finished with the succinct demand: ‘Protect our football.’
In the wake of the shocking exodus from the Old Lady, former president Agnelli issued a letter to all Juventus employees, as he departs after an unprecedented decade of dominance at the club.
Under his stewardship, the club won a staggering nine consecutive Serie A titles from 2011-2020, with their stampede of success halted only by titles for Inter Milan in 2021 and AC Milan in 2022.
Yet the club has struggled once again to mount a serious challenge for the Italian top-flight title, and currently sit third in the table – 10 points behind unbeaten Napoli and two away from AC Milan.
In his letter he lauded the club’s on-pitch achievements, which also included reaching two Champions League finals in 2015 and 2017.
Now-former president Agnelli’s 12-year stay at the Turin club now comes to an end with his resignation
‘We are facing a delicate moment in society,’ he wrote. ‘Better to leave everyone together, giving the possibility to a new team to overturn the game’.
‘When the team is not compact it lends itself to the opponents and this can be fatal.
‘At that moment we need to have clarity and contain the damage. I will continue to imagine and work for a better football club, comforted by a phrase by Friedrich Nietzsche: “And those who saw themselves dancing were considered crazy by those who did not hear the music”.
‘Remember everyone, we will recognise each other everywhere with a look: we are the people of Juve!’
Details of the letter were released by Ansa and La Repubblica.
The full board of directors also includes Laurence Debroux, Massimo Della Ragione, Katryn Fink, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio, Giorgio Tacchia and Suzanne Keywood, as well as Agnelli, Nedved and Arrivabene.
