Now it's the other teams' turn. The investigation into Juventus's financial affairs is sparking legal proceedings in other Italian cities. Turin prosecutors have forwarded a series of documents to colleagues in half a dozen public prosecutor's offices . The move is prompted by territorial jurisdiction concerns.
Juve Investigation, Prosecutor's Office Investigates Relations with Other Clubs
For some time now, investigations by the magistrates of the Subalpine region and the Guardia di Finanza had led to the conclusion that Juventus had established, in the matter of the exchange and sale of players, relationships of " collaboration and partnership " (the terms used in the trial documents) with a number of other clubs.
Conduct rooted in "relationships between managers and sports directors ." Stuff that—the prosecutor argued—could even "jeopardize the fairness of competitions . "
Sports justice , in matters of capital gains , essentially 'exonerated' the championships last January 23, when the Federal Court of Appeal inflicted a 15-point penalty on Juventus alone and acquitted eight other clubs that had ended up on trial.
The reason was that only for the Juventus club had clear evidence been found—the judges wrote—of an intent to falsify the accounts. But the Old Lady's legal team will appeal against that decision to the CONI Guarantee Board . It 's not a given that the Turin prosecutor's move will reopen the game.
What is clear is that the investigators believe they have collected material worthy of being reported to other prosecutors for further criminal investigation.
Sampdoria, Atalanta, Sassuolo, Empoli, Udinese and others in the crosshairs
According to the Turin prosecutors – as can be seen from the documents assembled last year – the partnership relationships mainly concerned Sampdoria , Atalanta , Sassuolo , Empoli , Udinese ; among the documents also appeared Grosseto , Parma , Pisa , Monza , Cosenza , Pescara "to name a few".
It is not certain, however, that these are the teams that will be affected by the next investigations. In the meantime, the Turin prosecutors are focused on the preliminary hearing, which will open on March 27.
In recent days, they have interviewed a series of 'persons informed of the facts' . Starting with former Juventus player Rolando Mandragora , who was sold to Udinese in 2018 with a buyback clause, which then occurred in 2020, and the vice president of the Friulian club, Stefano Campoccia.
Another front concerns the relationship with Atalanta : evidence is being sought of unaccounted sums related to player sales. If evidence emerges, prosecutors will broaden the charges against Juventus at the preliminary hearing.
