Juve, Agnelli resigns with the board: an era is over

The earthquake came suddenly, on a quiet evening at the end of November, a bit like what happened a year ago when Juventus ended up under investigation. This time, however, the news is even more sensational: Andrea Agnelli is no longer the president of the Juventus club, and Pavel Nedved and Maurizio Arrivabene also leave with him: 4576 days after his inauguration, the offspring of the Agnellis, who in a decade has become most successful president in black and white history, with 9 scudetti in a row (a feat never achieved by anyone in Italy) and 19 trophies in total, he leaves his great love one step away from the finish line: he will not be the club’s number one in 2023, the year of the centenary of the family property. The novelty also concerns the appointment of a new general manager, Maurizio Scanavino, to strengthen the management of the club. He will inherit full powers within the company.

RESIGNATION

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The news became official shortly before 10 pm through an official statement after a busy day: the board of directors had met in an extraordinary session to decide the future of a company particularly shaken by the events of the last 12 months. The last sign that something big was happening was the second postponement of the shareholders’ meeting, communicated about a week ago, which was postponed from the end of October to the end of November and then even postponed to 27 December. The motivation, according to what was explained in a press release, was the need to implement the findings made by Consob (the control body of the Stock Exchange) related to the latest financial statements, that of 2021-22. Juventus had announced that it had rewritten the financial statements on the basis of the disputes of the supervisory body, however continuing to consider the findings of both Consob and the Turin prosecutor’s office on the drafting of the financial statements in recent years to be incorrect. This time, however, he has taken another path, modifying the draft financial statements and consolidated financial statements at 30 June 2022, implementing the indications of Consob and also those of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “The Juventus board of directors – reads the press release – has once again examined the complaints of the Turin public prosecutor’s office”, noting that “these are elements of evaluation susceptible to different interpretations and has considered possible alternative treatments”. The critical issues mainly concerned the “salary maneuvers” implemented during the Covid, which provided for the players to waive some months’ salaries in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons and return them in the following seasons. For “a more prudential approach”, the club eventually decided to account for them in a different way, effectively incorporating the notes made by the magistrates investigating Juventus’ accounts.

THE WEIGHT OF THE INVESTIGATION

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The Prisma investigation, in addition to Consob, is also the reason why Agnelli, Nedved and Arrivabene, all three under investigation (a total of 15 people plus Juventus, with the accusations of false corporate communications, obstacle to the exercise of the supervisory bodies , information rigging and false invoicing for non-existent transactions) have “deemed it appropriate to hand over their powers to the board, given the centrality and relevance of the pending legal and technical-accounting issues”. However, the board asked Arrivabene to keep his position as chief executive officer. On Agnelli’s proposal, all the members of the CDA present resigned, thus the majority disappeared and the CDA lapsed. It will continue under the “prorogatio” regime until the shareholders’ meeting, called for January 18, 2023, to appoint the new Board of Directors. “The accounting effects will be reflected in a new draft budget, examined and approved at a forthcoming meeting and submitted to the shareholders’ meeting on December 27”. The decision to resign was made for fear of the relapses of 231, which provides for the principle of administrative liability for specific types of crimes committed by directors and employees of companies: in addition to sanctions, criminal liability can also lead to operation inhibition. The indictments are expected before Christmas, then the trial should begin in the spring.

THE PRESIDENT’S GREETING

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Agnelli greeted the employees with a letter in which he claims “the extraordinary results”, including mentioning the Stadium, 9 consecutive championships for men and 5 for women. Among the regrets, however, there are the Champions League finals. “We are facing a delicate moment from a corporate point of view – he explains – and the compactness has failed. It is better to leave everyone together, giving the possibility to a new formation to overturn the game. We are used to winning by history and DNA. Our awareness will be their challenge: live up to the history of Juventus. I will continue to imagine and work for better football.”