Ten-point deduction for shambling Juventus, missing out on Champions League threatens

Juventus has still received a ten-point deduction penalty in their appeal for financial malfeasance. The Italian Football Federation announced this on Monday night.

It was initially a matter of fifteen penalty points. Those were given back to the Italian soccer club pending the appeal.

With the new points reduction, Juventus, until today the number two in the league table, dropped out of the top four in Serie A in one fell swoop and the Champions League ticket for next season was already seriously in question. The damage was compounded later in the evening by the 4-1 defeat at number fourteen Empoli.

Juventus, which is now five points behind number four AC Milan, may also appeal this penalty, by the way.

The Italian record champion (36 national titles) has fiddled with transfer fees and player values, according to a judge.

The most high-profile example of the tampering was a swap deal with FC Barcelona. Juventus sold Miralem Pjanic to the Spanish club for 72 million euros and brought back Arhur Melo for 60 million euros. Both transfer fees were well above the players’ market values. The high transfer fee allowed Juventus to comply with UEFA rules of financial fair play.

The club has consistently denied that it knowingly violated the rules and therefore appealed. Today, the highest sports judge only partially vindicated the club with the slightly lower penalty.

Eleven current and former board members of the club were also suspended in the rumored affair. Former president Andrea Agnelli had been barred from all football-related functions for two years, and that punishment remained. The suspension of three others was also not changed.

Seven former Juventus executives, including former player Pavel Nedved who had a 12-month suspension handed down, were acquitted.

Incidentally, this is not the first time the club has been involved in a major scandal. In 2006, Juventus was relegated to Serie B and lost two league titles in the Calciopoli scandal. Juventus was then convicted of influencing referee appointments.