Daily Times

MILAN: Italy’s football association (FIGC) has finished an investigation into Juventus over alleged irregularities in their payments to players, the Serie A club said on Wednesday. Juventus, who have already been hit with a 15-point Serie A deduction this season in a separate case over players’ transfers, could face further sporting penalties if found guilty. FIGC prosecutors allege that Italy’s most successful team agreed to pay players back most of their COVID-19 related wage cuts without properly accounting for it. Juventus (JUVE.MI) will now have access to the FIGC prosecutor’s documents and have 15 days to file their own documents or request to be interviewed. Prosecutors will then decide whether the club should face a sports tribunal.

Juventus said in a statement they had “correctly applied the relevant international accounting standards”. The club could face penalties including a further points deduction. It is not clear if any potential new penalty would affect the club in current Serie A season or the next one. In January they were docked 15 points for the current season by an Italian soccer court investigating the club’s transfer dealings and finances. The court also imposed bans on a number of the club’s officials, preventing them from holding office in Italian soccer. Juventus have appealed against that ruling to Italy’s Sports Guarantee Board.

Inquiries by sport authorities were triggered by investigations by criminal prosecutors in Turin, where the club is based, in a case regarding alleged false accounting. A criminal court hearing to decide whether to order a trial for former chairman Andrea Agnelli, 11 other people and the club itself started last month. Juventus have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting is in line with industry standards.