Juve penalized: it’s right to punish the club, but the fans… Di Caro’s comment

A week ago, before the Maradona match against Napoli, Juventus returning from eight consecutive victories dreamed of a great comeback for the Scudetto. Today she finds herself in mid-table, outside Europe, penalized by 15 points. And to think that just a day ago, unofficially, the company leaked great optimism and the conviction that the request to reopen the process for capital gains would not be accepted. Perhaps it was just pretactic, certainly the Juventus club did not expect nor the harsh requests of the federal prosecutor Chiné, nor that the federal Court of Appeal tightened the penalties even further by inflicting a very heavy sentence on the club that plummets in the standings and its former top executives from Agnelli to Paratici, from Nedved to Arrivabene up to Cherubini, who is not yet ex but probably will soon be. A similar sentence may certainly surprise – and Juve controversially asks why the other clubs have been acquitted – but it certifies that the club’s faults have been many and very serious in recent years in which the attempt at a further leap in sporting quality has led to a inconsiderate management. Interceptions, as also happened in the past, leave little room for doubt.

The system

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Juventus, which until Ronaldo’s arrival had combined victories in league titles and cups with healthy balance sheets, began to walk a tightrope in order to reach the level of the world‘s top clubs, imagining that the goal underneath to save it was represented by alliances with clubs that they made it possible to artificially inflate market operations to make ends meet. As often happens, by dint of winning you risk the delirium of omnipotence and feeling unassailable, unjudgable and therefore above even the rules. A mix of presumption, shrewdness and arrogance is created which never leads to anything good (it is no coincidence that the new president Ferrero said at the shareholders’ meeting: we will defend the club rigorously, but without arrogance).

First the attempt to set up the Superlega in a sneaky and carbonara way, an idea that cost Agnelli the role of Eca president and his career in international offices. Then the tested system of capital gains to fix balance sheets weighed down by over-budget operations and the economic crisis exacerbated by Covid. And finally the case of the salaries of football players. Which now scares even more than before, because it is the subject of a future judgment. Just as it is feared that UEFA could use a heavy hand with the exclusion from the cups for more than a year. We will see.

The future

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It is useless now to make predictions on how the Appeal to the Guarantee Board will end up, which cannot modify the sentence of the Court of Appeal and therefore eliminate or reduce the 15 penalty points, but only send it back for a new discussion in case of defects of form and violations of the rights of the defence. Or hypothesize the next decisions in the sports center on the salary case (without forgetting that there is also an ordinary process…). We deserve the comments, not the predictions. There are judges predisposed to decide. And whoever made a mistake must pay. Without discounts. But there is also a Juventus people who shouldn’t be humiliated. The faults of the managers, not by chance already resigned or defenestrated you, do not fall on millions of fans guilty of how the club’s budgets were managed. The often vain hope placed in all supporters (even in those who rejoice today and perhaps have other skeletons in their closet) is that they always remain attached to the colors and not to the men who wear them wrong. There must be no pride in error. It’s incredible how the most successful club in Italy in the last 16 years has so often ended up offside and in the classrooms of sports and ordinary courts.

Juve’s new course started a few days ago, whoever took over the reins of the club has to play an uphill game, prejudiced by those who are no longer there. He will have to take care of defending himself and starting again. Combining sporting results and sound management in the future. This blow brings not only the season into play but also the future of many protagonists, from the coach (last link with the previous management) to several expiring big names who perhaps may want to continue elsewhere. Juve has already had to face the tsunami and get back on their feet. It will take calmness, self-criticism, will, ability, judgment and historic ambition. But without arrogance.