Juventus shares fell as much as 13 percent on Monday after Italian football authorities hit the club with a 15-point penalty following fraudulent accounting practices.
The decision, made by the country’s football federation late on Friday, is the latest development in an investigation into how the club, which is backed by the billionaire Agnelli family, records player salaries and transfers.
The drop in points is expected to push Juventus, who have won more titles than any other Italian club, into ninth place in the Serie A league table. It is unlikely that the club will be able to climb back into the top flight in time to participate in lucrative European competitions such as the Champions League Uefa.
“It will be a real battle to qualify for the Champions League this season,” said Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool. “The Champions League gives you an exciting platform for your commercial partners.”
Turin prosecutors have sought indictments against dozens of Juventus executives, including former president Andrea Agnelli, on charges including market manipulation and false accounting.
Agnelli played a major role in trying to create a European Super League, a project that recently collapsed in April 2021 despite the support of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in Spain. Critics say ESL is trying to concentrate power and profits in the hands of a few elite teams.
Juventus, which has denied wrongdoing, said it would appeal the Italian football federation’s decision.
The punishment sparked a strong reaction among Juventus fans and sparked fresh concerns about the future of the club following the resignation of the board two months ago and a recent reshuffle at the top.
Newly appointed chief executive Maurizio Scanavino said on Sunday the club’s position was “clear and solid”, calling the sporting authority’s decision “unfair”.
Scanavino, who also holds the top post at GEDI, the publisher of Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, said the football federation’s “justice system can act in an unfair way. [and] this is worrying because what is happening at Juventus now may happen at other clubs in the future”.
The authorities also handed Scanavino, Maurizio Arrivabene, and Agnelli a two-year ban from football activities.
Nine Juventus staff and former board members were also banned from participating in football activities in Italy for eight months to two and a half years.
Fabio Paratici, the club’s former sporting director and current managing director of football at Tottenham Hotspur, was given the longest suspension.
Italian sports authorities have also asked that “the ban be extended to the activities of UEFA and FIFA”.
Last week the club appointed Gianluca Ferrero, an accounting expert who previously worked for a company controlled by Agnelli, as its new president.
Juventus recorded losses of more than €550 million over the last three seasons. In a letter to shareholders in October, Agnelli said the annual loss of €254 million in the 2021/22 campaign was “certainly the darkest moment” from an “economic-financial point of view”.
Also last week, Agnelli announced that he was resigning from all his positions in the family business, including carmaker Stellantis, which controls Fiat, as well as parent company Exor.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for March 27.