How and why Juventus are in another scandal threatening their future

Not even the most catastrophizing among us would have imagined we would be back here, deciphering why and how they have found themselves embroiled, yet again, in another scandal that could threaten their sporting future.

On 20 January, the Italian Football Association’s sporting tribunal handed Juventus a 15-point deduction on account of the plusvalenze case, immediately dropping the club from third in the table to 10th.

Plusvalenze essentially means capital gains, a hot topic in Italian football for some time.

In October 2021, the Federal Prosecutor was invited to investigate whether clubs were artificially inflating players valuations to achieve capital gains.

In April 2022, 59 executives and 11 clubs, including Juventus were acquitted of all charges, the reasoning being that it is impossible to objectively determine the value of a player.

However, prosecutors in Turin’s Public Prosecutor office initiated their own investigation (Prisma) and collected evidence which eventually led the FIGC to reopen the case.

This process ultimately led to Juventus’ punishment.

We are, at this time, still awaiting the official reasoning behind the decision for such a strong penalty.

It’s also worth noting that the capital gains in question represent only 3.6% of the Bianconeri’s revenues during that period according to reports

To make matters worse for the club, a preliminary hearing for the Prisma investigation into Juventus will take place on 27 March and, at this, the club will have to fight allegations of artificial capital gains, false accounting and market manipulation.

They are accused of secretly paying their players who they had said would be foregoing four months’ wages during the Covid pandemic.

Many have opined that Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Juventus is what lit the flame that would incinerate their financial future.

Perhaps, but it is almost impossible to not understand the motivations behind striking the match and believing in a better future.

The Ronaldo effect

Ronaldo (centre) scored 101 goals in 134 appearances for Juve over a three-year spell between 2018-2021

Ronaldo represented elevation, the next step in a master plan that would catapult Juventus’ brand and allow them to compete with the biggest and the best continuously.

That secured better sponsorship deals, a more valuable jersey and many converted fans who stayed even when Ronaldo then left for Manchester.

According to Deloitte, Juventus earned €194m in commercial revenue last year, representing 48% of their total revenue.

Of course, increasing visibility and growing a brand is an exercise in futility if the club no longer wins on the pitch and the pandemic wiped out the other revenue streams.

The commercial revenue was, and remains, a great help to their finances.

The pandemic ruined Serie A but that’s not to say that Juventus did not also make mistakes, none come bigger than letting go of director Beppe Marotta, the man who helped build Agnelli’s Juve.

It’s widely believed that Agnelli felt the club needed a shake up, to evolve and ‘think big’ after losing to Real Madrid in the 2017 Champions League final.

Agnelli soon realised that Juventus were simply never going to compete with the big boys.