Could Juventus Turin recover its 15 penalty points due to accounting fraud on player transfers between 2018 and 2021 and thus revive through the championship to qualify for the Champions League 2023-2024? Beaten last Sunday by AS Roma (1-0) during the 25th day, the Piedmontese team occupies 7th place in Serie A and is 15 lengths behind Inter Milan (2nd) and 12 behind the club of the capital which holds the last ticket for the next C1. A delay almost impossible to fill by the end of the season. But, the Bianconeri could escape a trial and any legal or sporting sanction (even if the club appealed) thanks to a formal defect due to a possible error by the investigators.
According to several Italian media, including the Gazzetta dello Sport, Juve asked to obtain the official letters exchanged between the prosecution and Covisoc (the financial control body of the Italian Federation) in April 2021. The lawyers of the Piedmontese team hope thus see there a problem around the dates. After several refusals from the prosecutor, the Lazio Tar administrative court validated the Turinese’s request.
A success in the Europa League, the other way for the C 1
Covisoc has seven days to hand over the documents to the defence. This court decision could be a turning point in this case. If a report was made as early as April 2021, the procedure officially opened in October 2022 should not have been authorized. The document at the center of this story could cause the trial to be inadmissible in the Federal Court of Appeals due to the procedural time violation.
The authorized deadlines provide for a period of 30 days to register the case in a special register and then 60 days to carry out the investigation. Therefore, if the theory of Juventus were to be confirmed, the Old Lady could obtain the invalidity of her lawsuit and of all the sanctions for the accounting fraud linked to certain questionable transfers.
Beyond the legal case, Juve could therefore relaunch completely in the race for C1 with the cancellation of its 15 penalty points. The teammates of Paul Pobga and Adrien Rabiot can also still qualify for the next C1 through the Europa League if they were to win the competition. This Thursday, they will receive the Germans from Friborg in the round of 16 first leg of the C3.