Champions League in jeopardy for Juve

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Monday published the reasons why it ruled in favour of Juventus on 20th April and temporarily returned the 15 penalty points imposed on them by the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) Court of Appeal, a move that has opened the deadline for the latter body to reconsider its ruling on the Turin club.

The ruling on 20th April by CONI's College of Guarantees, an independent body which is the third and final level of Italian sports justice, was based on the lack of consistency in the motivation of the sanction imposed on Juve for the 'capital gains case', in which the Italian club was accused of increasing the market value of footballers in order to generate more revenue from their transfers.

The arguments of the ruling were published in a 75-page document which also includes the reasons for the penalties imposed on members of the board of directors who resigned at the end of last year, including those affecting Andrea Agnelli, former president (two years banned); Fabio Paratici, former head of the club (30 months); and Federico Cherubini, former Juventus sporting director (16 months), whose appeals were not accepted and who, therefore, remain banned.

On the other hand, the appeal of vice-president Pavel Nedved, who is not banned for the time being, was accepted.

The ball is now back in the court of appeal of the FIGC, which will have to reconsider the sanction related to the 'capital gains case', so it is not expected to ask for a 15-point deduction again.

It is still unknown whether the sanction will be applied in the current campaign again or, taking into account possible appeals, bureaucratic aspects and the short time left until the end of the campaign, it will be carried over to the next one. Various media reports suggest that, this time, the penalty would be a nine-point deduction, which would leave the club out of the Champions League qualification places.