Juventus’ entire board of directors have shockingly resigned from their posts, including president Andrea Agnelli and vice president Pavel Nedved.
A unanimous decision has been made by the board of directors at the Old Lady to resign en masse.
Managing director Maurizio Arrivabene is set to remain in charge of his administrative duties despite also resigning, with the club set to fall into a significant period of transition.
2021-22 saw a year of record-breaking losses published by the Turin club, with a £220million (€254.3m) loss being registered by the Serie A giants.
The decision was made upon the proposal of president Agnelli, after the board agreed that it was in the best interest of the club for a new board to take over at Juventus.
According to various Italian media outlets, the unanimous decision comes as a result of the body’s involvement in the Prisma investigation, opened by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The entire board of directors at Juventus has unanimously resigned according to reports
A statement published on the club’s official website said that the board received ‘new legal and accounting opinions’ from independent experts in charge of assessing the ‘critical issues’.
Juventus won nine consecutive Serie A titles under Andrea Agnelli’s stewardship
Agnelli’s period of unprecedented dominance at the Allianz Arena – including a nine-year run of Serie A titles – has now come to an end as a result.
The full board of directors also includes Laurence Debroux, Massimo Della Ragione, Katryn Fink, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio, Giorgio Tacchia and Suzanne Keywood, as well as Agenlli, Nedved and Arrivabene.
According to various Italian media outlets, the unanimous decision comes as a result of the body’s involvement in the Prisma investigation, opened by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office.
On Tuesday, October 25 the club denied any wrongdoing after allegations of false accounting and market manipulation followed an investigation into the club’s financial statements.
The board had been informed that the investigation had finished, which usually precedes any request to take suspects to trial in Italy, and a source close to matters claimed that there were 15 suspects in the investigation, including Agnelli.
Andrea Agnelli oversaw a period of unprecedented dominance – one which now comes to an end
The club issued a statement, saying: ‘Juventus remains convinced… to have acted in compliance with the laws and regulations governing the preparation of financial reports, in accordance with accounting principles and in line with the international practice in the football industry.’
The Turin prosecutor had alleged that the club misrepresented financial losses in the period 2018-20, with prosecutors investigating the amount ascribed to player sales.
The club is controlled by Exor, which is the holding company for the Agnelli family, with the former club president being one of the key driving forces behind the failed European Super League as the vice-chairman of the competition.
The club confirmed that a shareholders’ meeting set to take place November 23 had been moved to December 27 in a statement.
Juventus have slid from their perch at the top of Italian football after nine consecutive Serie A titles
It read: ‘Today, Juventus Football Club S.p.A. published pro-forma financial information to comply with Consob’s Resolution dated 19 October 2022 adopted pursuant to art. 154-ter, comma 7, of Legislative Decree No. 58/1998 (“TUF”).
‘In order to ensure maximum transparency and adequate time for the shareholders to examine the aforementioned information, the Board of Directors of the Company, which met today, resolved to postpone the Shareholders’ Meeting, previously scheduled for 23 November 2022, to 27 December 2022.’
But despite overseeing a period of dominance for the Italian giants, and spending lavishly in the transfer market of late, Juventus have lost their footing at the pinnacle of Italian football.
Their nine-year run of success was first interrupted by Inter, who were steered to the title in 2021 under the guidance of Antonio Conte.
And they were then denied the chance to secure ten Scudetto titles in 11 years by AC Milan last season, with Napoli seemingly unstoppable this term in Serie A as Juve’s bid for a first title in three years begins to look unlikely.
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