Capital gains Juve, today sentence on the penalty: the Champions League at risk

A handful of hours and we’ll know. We will know how many penalty points for the well-known capital gains affair will weigh on the Juventus standings right in the middle of the Champions League sprint. Whispers say that the sentence of the Federal Court of Appeal will arrive during the day, presumably after the closure of the Stock Exchange, but there is a doubt given that tonight the team will be busy in Empoli and in fact it would not be the best to publish the verdict earlier of the start of the match. But it is also true that the risks are known, everything is known about this affair, better still almost everything. And if you think about it, everything is in that “almost”.

just one point

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An “almost” that becomes a question: how many penalty points? This time also the theoretical and normative possibility of a second appeal to the Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport has a more limited specific weight. Mind you, the appeal would be legitimate and possible. But the judges of the last degree at the CONI in the reasons stated clearly that the quantification of the new penalty is up to the FIGC Court of Appeal. In that document, all the other points of the Juve appeal were returned to the sender. Only one remained in the balance, the role of non-top managers: the then vice president Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti, Assia Grazioli-Venier, Caitlin Mary Hughes, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio and Enrico Vellano. The College told the Court of Appeal: you have to explain the responsibilities of these figures and verify their role for the purposes of the Juve sanction.

the dilemma

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So tonight, or at the latest tomorrow, the decision will come. Then there is also the unknown Uefa, so as not to miss anything in this never-ending story. But the verdict is a fundamental junction. So, what will federal prosecutor Giuseppe Chinè ask for? If it remained at the 9 points of the January 20 trial (later increased by the judges to 15), the sanction would risk not being afflictive. It would be better if the championship ended tonight, even in the event of a victory for Juve in Empoli given that at that point Allegri’s advantage over Pioli would be 8 points. In reality, after Serie A he still has two stages to go through, and one of these is Juve-Milan… At the same time, to have a mathematical certainty of affliction, Chinè should ask for 15 points, the same penalty as the Court of Appeal on which, however, the Guarantee College said quite clearly: remodulated. Trying to translate: you get a discount. Even small – the confirmation of the maxi inhibition for the most important managers has arrived, those who lead to direct responsibility for the club – but do it. Thus the federal prosecutor could decline the Code in a didactic way: an afflictive penalty at that moment in the ranking. In short, between 11 and 13 points. After that, however, the judges will decide.

the defence

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In this mix of variables, what will Juve’s line be? One can only speculate about what the strong points of the defense might be. On top of everything there would be an interpretation of the word “afflictivity” not necessarily connected to the loss of the Champions League. That is: if I finish fourth and not second, I still lose money (calculating 10-12 million). The path of an affliction postponed to next season is more complex. There is a mystery about this, in the sense that it is not obvious that Juve can ask for it as a plan B or C. Then, the underlining of a discontinuity between the old and new management team: three of the four managers heavily inhibited (Agnelli, Paratici and Arrivabene) were already out of Juve at the time of the convictions and only one (Cherubini) was in charge.

short times

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The appointment is for 10 today. The match will be played remotely in the sense that only the judges of the college presided over by Ida Raiola, president of the internal section of the Veneto Tar, will be present in the headquarters of the Federal Court of Appeal. By lunchtime, the hearing may even be over. And at that point all the waiting will focus on that “almost” to be filled with a highly anticipated decision, which will be worth a lot of rankings and the future. Not just for Juventus.