Nyon will decide in mid-July: the trial has yet to begin. The prosecutor will speak to the club and propose the fine. Appeal only to the Tas, but times are getting longer
Juve or Fiorentina, an Italian will certainly be there in the next Conference. But it’s better not to hold your breath waiting for the enigma to be resolved: the “trial” against Juve for the alleged violations of financial Fair Play, in fact, is simply at the investigation stage. The trial hasn’t started yet. Complicated investigation, it was known, and long times. Impossible to hope for a sentence this week, difficult next week too. The most probable scenario is that the first degree ends in Nyon by mid-July. For reasons of urgency, any Juventus appeal will be addressed directly to the CAS, without a second instance before the UEFA judges. The goal is to have an answer by the end of July/early August, so as to complete the list of teams registered for the Conference playoff draw (August 7).
Trial, pm and sanctions
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The Juve dossier is very complex. UEFA asked the Turin prosecutor’s office and the FIGC for all the documents that were first translated and then studied by the investigators. Thousands and thousands of pages. The talks between Turin and Nyon began some time ago, well before the renunciation of the Superlega, but these are above all procedural issues. We haven’t gotten into it yet. Once the investigative phase is over, we will move on to the trial phase: only then will the Juventus club be able to dialogue with the judge who follows the case and who will prepare the final report. Once the second phase has also been completed, the judge will make his proposal to the club which has the right to oppose, contest the issues, request changes. Then, the final proposal will go to the judges for decision.
The prospects: fines, disqualification and no settlement
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Soon to hypothesize scenarios, it depends on the amount of violations and also on how Juve’s behavior will be evaluated. At the end of 2022, the Bianconeri signed a three-year agreement, a “settlement agreement”, with UEFA. Settlement is a less punishing path for clubs, provided however that the objectives are met and that the declarations are correct. In the specific case of Juve, the global punishment (fine of 23 million) has been reduced to just 3 million. Failure to achieve the objectives will certainly lead to an increase in the fine, from 4 to a total of 23 million, i.e. with no more discounts, more limits to the squad and the transfer market. Then there is another worst-case scenario. If the judge were to consider the violations very serious, he could declare the “settlement” void: this would lead to a sanction without “negotiation”.
The cups: no waiver of the Tas
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The rumor had spread that Juve, not exactly happy about going to the Conference, could have refused participation. A remote and self-defeating eventuality. A club that refuses to participate in the cup for which it has qualified risks a fine and even worse, and there would also be consequences for the federation to which it belongs. In reality it is much more probable that, in dialogue with the judge, Juve understand that the one-year ban is a realistic prospect and therefore accept it without objection. Common sense suggests that, in the presence of a one-year disqualification, and the prospect of “skipping” the Conference, Juve does not go to the CAS. Different speech in the event of a heavier exclusion, from two years upwards: this would preclude a possible Champions League and would understandably push Juve to turn to the judges in Lausanne (the Cassation of European sport).
The future: Club World Cup possible
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The discussion on the Conference yes or no crosses over with the very rich Club World Cup which debuts in 2025: the first edition, now it’s official, will take place in the USA. Someone fears that not participating in the Conference is a problem because the last 4 European champions and the 8 with the best UEFA ranking qualify for the World Cup. It is not so. Only the ranking won in the Champions League counts: the results in the other two cups (Europa League and Conference) don’t enter the account, so Juve won’t add points in ’23-24 in any case. The Club World Cup is difficult to win because Milan and Naples can overcome the black and whites with the results of the next Champions League. But that’s another story. Today the theme is the upcoming future in cups.
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