Chaos in Turin as Andrea Agnelli and Pavel Nedved are among those to have stepped down from high-profile posts at the Allianz Stadium. In a remarkable turn of events, the entire board of directors at Serie A giants Juventus resigned on November 28, 2022.  It comes after Juventusâs financial statements underwent scrutiny by prosecutors and the Italian market regulator Consob in recent months for alleged false accounting and market manipulation. The company has denied any wrongdoing. Juve have posted record losses of âŹ254.3 million (ÂŁ219m/$264m) for 2021-22 and a shareholdersâ meeting that was due to take place on November 23 was initially pushed back to December 27. It has, however, been revealed that all members of the clubâs board are now stepping down, with president Andrea Agnelli and vice-president Pavel Nedved among those to be vacating their posts.
That decision has been taken following an investigation into alleged false accounting and communication on behalf of the Serie A heavyweights, with CONSOB â the body in charge of supervising activity on the Italian stock market â asking for clarification on the Bianconeriâs balance sheet. The Turin Prosecutor is also investigating salary payments that were supposedly deferred during the Covid-19 pandemic. Authorities are seeking to prove that Juve did not give up four monthsâ worth of payments, as was claimed at the time, and that only one month was given up, with wages continuing to be paid through a series of private agreements.
In May and June 2020, 23 players signed agreements that would see their respective salaries reduced in a bid to cut costs during a testing period financially for clubs around the world â with games played out in empty stadiums as supporters were prevented from attending. According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus stars were paid âin the blackâ to allow the players and the club to avoid taxes, while statements were allegedly falsified in order to make out that books had been balanced.