Juve: Superlega, EU opinion on Thursday. Open matches for the new club

The new Juventus corporate cycle is already experiencing an important week off the pitch. Not only on the judicial front linked to the Prisma investigation, after the decision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to abandon the appeal after the magistrate’s no to the measures against the company and the executives under investigation. In fact, a response from the Attorney General of the Cassation is also expected by Sunday to the club’s request to move the criminal proceedings from Turin to Milan, or alternatively Rome, for reasons of territorial jurisdiction. Moreover, in the event of rejection of the request, Juventus could then propose it again at the preliminary hearing: probably it will not be scheduled before the new year, probably in February, and it is in that venue that the investigating judge is called to express his opinion on the request for indictment in the against Juventus and the other twelve suspects, starting with the president Andrea Agnelli.

THE SUPERLEAGUE MATCH

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The first hot day, however, will probably be Thursday. In fact, the opinion of the general advocate of the European Court of Justice, the Greek lawyer Athanasios Rantos, is expected by then on the dispute brought by the Superlega against UEFA, accused of a dominant position in contrast with the antitrust legislation. It’s not judgment day, it’s just a non-binding opinion, but usually highly regarded by the European Court of Justice, whose actual decision is then expected in 2023, most likely around March. It could close the door on the three rebel clubs or represent a turning point that would be like an earthquake for the football institutions.

THE UEFA FIELD

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The match is intertwined with those already open for Juventus on the UEFA front. Starting from the investigation opened by the highest continental body in the light of the Prisma investigation, to ascertain the possible violation of the rules of financial fair play, on the basis of what is contained in the file of the Turin prosecutor’s office. Serious violations, such as a finding of an intentional violation of accounts, would call into question the settlement agreement already reached in September (3.5 million, which would become 23 in the event of non-compliance with the agreements) for having disregarded the rules on balanced budgets in seasons affected by the pandemic. UEFA will not wait for the end of the legal case to conclude its proceedings.

ECA AND AROUND

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Then last Friday the opening towards Juventus by the ECA, the Association of European Clubs of which Andrea Agnelli was president for four years until the Superlega case: after the resignation of the Juventus number one and of the entire board of directors, the body has declared its willingness to dialogue with the new corporate top management, whose formal settlement is expected at the shareholders’ meeting on 18 January. It remains in the records that Agnelli’s push on the road to the Superlega, probably not without the knowledge of the Juventus owners, has never been disowned by John Elkann.

ELKANN’S POSITION

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The number one of Exor, the family safe that holds the absolute majority (63.8 percent) of the club’s shares, touched on the issue two months ago, declaring in an interview with Journal: “I have faith in the work that my cousin Andrea Agnelli is carrying out to give football a future with commitment and passion. But I’m also worried about what’s going on around football and professional sport in general. At the heart of the system should be the fans, the athletes, and the teams. Instead, there is a dangerous drift that benefits intermediaries, organizers and regulators who are putting the world of sport in difficulty because they are motivated exclusively by money and power”.