Ex-Juventus boss Agnelli granted plea bargain that could clear way for soccer return

ROME (AP) — A plea bargain deal for former Juventus president Andrea Agnelli with a 20-month suspended sentence in a false accounting trial was granted by a judge Monday — possibly setting up Agnelli’s return to soccer after his sports ban expires next month.

The trial, which began after prosecutors started investigating Juventus in 2021, contributed to Agnelli’s downfall at the record 36-time Serie A champion.

Former Juventus vice president Pavel Nedved was granted a deal of 14 months and former Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici got 18 months — with their sentences also suspended.

Former Juventus CEO Maurizio Arrivabene was cleared of wrongdoing by the court in Rome — where the trial was moved to after starting in Turin.

“The decision to request that this suspended sentence be applied, without recognizing responsibility — and therefore coherent with my position of innocence — was quite difficult,” Agnelli said in a statement to Italian media.

Agnelli added that since the trial is still in the initial phase and preliminary hearings, “the alternative would have been remaining in limbo for a very long time.

“My love for Juventus remains total and unaltered,” Agnelli said. He’s been living in Amsterdam for more than two years and he plans to “carry out his future plans” in the Dutch city.

Juventus, which is listed on the Milan stock exchange, was fined 156,000 euros ($183,000) and also reached a settlement with about 75 investors who the club will pay slightly more than 1 million euros (about $1.2 million).

All of the parties involved denied any wrongdoing.

Juventus said in a statement reacting to the ruling that “while reiterating the correctness of its conduct and the soundness of its defensive arguments,” the club “has deemed it appropriate to resort to this instrument in the best interest of the company itself, its shareholders and all stakeholders.”

The case prompted Agnelli and Juventus’ entire board of directors to resign in 2022. Agnelli was then given two separate bans by sports authorities, the last of which expires in October.

Agnelli was also considered the mastermind behind the failed Super League project and resigned his position as the head of the European Club Association when the doomed breakaway plan was revealed in 2021.

Juventus was hit with a 10-point penalty in the 2022-23 season and then removed by UEFA from the Conference League for financial irregularities.

Juventus and its managers were investigated for cashing in on illegal commissions from transfers and loans of players and illicit handling of players’ salaries. The case also explored whether investors were misled with invoices being issued for non-existent transactions to demonstrate income that in turn could be deemed false accounting.

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