Juve, hearing before the Coni Board of Guarantee on penalty: the Guide

More than the Sassuolo that was there and the Naples that will come, more than the trip to Lisbon which is worth one of the goals of the season, Juve’s central field of the week is Rome, Foro Italico: an area from which a a couple of defeats, against Roma and Lazio, but this match is played on a different field: the Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport at Coni. This is the third and final level of judgement, in fact the Cassation of sports justice, and as such called to judge not the merit but the legal legitimacy of the decisions of the previous level.

WHEN AND WHO

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The President of the Sports Guarantee College, Gabriella Palmieri Sandulli, has set the hearing for Wednesday 19 April 2023 at 2.30 pm, before the United Sections, or with the presidents of the respective sections Vito Branca, Attilio Zimatore, Massimo Zaccheo and Dante D ‘Alessio. In addition to the club’s appeal against the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal which imposed the penalty of 15 points following the revocation of the previous sentence on suspicious capital gains, the former members of the Juventus board of directors will also be at the College: Andrea Agnelli, Fabio Paratici, Federico Cherubini, Pavel Nedved, Maurizio Arrivabene, Paolo Garimberti, Assia Grazioli-Venier, Caitlin Mary Hughes, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio, Enrico Vellano. The FIGC has not been formed, the counterpart of Juventus in the proceeding will be the Attorney General of Sport, the prefect Ugo Taucer.

What could happen

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There are three possible ways out of the hearing. One, to reject Juventus’ appeal and confirm the -15 ruling decided by the Federal Court of Appeal. Two, accept Juventus’ appeal and cancel the -15 if formal or procedural errors are found in the formation of the sentence in the previous levels of judgement. The third way is that of referral to the Federal Court of Appeal to correct any defects indicated by the Guarantee College and in the light of these to re-examine the procedure, arrive at a new sentence and write new reasons, which may also mean (or even not ) a reformulation in different terms of the sentence. In the latter case, the 15 points would be returned, pending the new pronouncement.

THE SCENARIOS

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The one on capital gains is only the first strand of sports justice born from the papers of the Prisma investigation of the Turin prosecutor’s office on the criminal front. Of the second, which brings together partnerships with other clubs, relationships with agents and above all the disputed accounting of the two salary maneuvers, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has just closed the sports file on 12 April. The defenses (here the Juve arguments) have 15 days to present briefs or ask to be heard, the referral will arrive within a month and then the hearing will be fixed. But in the meantime, the accused can ask for a plea deal, with a reduction of up to half the sentence if before the referral, or up to a third of the sentence if after the referral. Theoretically unrelated but in reality born from the same criminal investigation, the two sporting proceedings are intertwined and it is likely that the lines of accusation and defense on the second strand will cascade with respect to how the first will end. As filtered, the overall objective of the accusation is to censure Juve’s behavior with an adequate sanction: if it does not come from the Guarantee College, it would press its hand on the second line. But there is also the defense, ready to play their cards.