In the process of falsifying financial reports from a total of eleven Italian professional football clubs, the accused top managers have been acquitted. After several days of hearings, the sports court of the national association FIGC did not see evidence of culpable behavior by officials such as club boss Andrea Agnelli from record champions Juventus Turin and other prominent club bosses.
The clubs were accused of fraudulently falsifying their balance sheets. According to the indictment, the clubs reported significantly higher capital gains and benefit claims in their budget reports than they actually did by using fantasy values for players.
The investigations covered more than 60 cases of dubious transfer costs for buyers and sellers. In addition to Juventus, SSC Napoli, FC Genoa, Sampdoria Genoa and FC Empoli were also affected by the investigations in Serie A. Other clubs from the second-rate Serie B down were also accused of irregularities in player transfers. Aside from Agnelli, Naples owner Aurelio De Laurentiis was the most prominent suspect in the case. In the event of a guilty verdict, convicted officials would have faced bans from football activities of up to 16 months.
The FIGC court followed the pleadings of the defense attorneys in dismissing the claims. The lawyers for Agnelli and Co. had consistently argued that market values of players could not be determined objectively. As evidence for their theses, the lawyers referred to the information provided by the prosecutors, who in their allegations had referred to values derived from an Internet portal that were not transparent.
For Juventus, the processes are not yet complete despite the completed FIGC process. In the same context, the Italian law enforcement authorities are currently investigating the listed club for deceiving investors.