Fabio Paratici, Andrea Agnelli get suspended sentences after entering plea bargain in Prisma case

An Italian judge has accepted a plea request from former Juventus executives to settle a false accounting case from their time at the Turin club.

Ex-chairman Andrea Agnelli, ex-chief football officer Fabio Paratici — who is working at Tottenham Hotspur as a consultant — and ex-vice chairman Pavel Nedved have received suspended sentences of 20, 18 and 14 months respectively. The plea does not involve an admission of guilt and Juventus were fined €157, 000.

The criminal investigation, called Prisma, into false accounting, false company reporting and billing for non-existent transactions began in 2021, as The Athletic reported that the financial police force in Italy had a warrant to search Juventus’ premises. Three other executives, former chief financial officer Stefano Cerrato, Stefano Bertola and Marco Re also settled, receiving one-year suspended sentences converted into a fine, while former CEO Maurizio Arrivabene was acquitted, according to reports in the Italian media.

In a statement to The Athletic, Agnelli reiterated his “deep respect” for the authorities who had evaluated the proceedings that were a “heavy burden but also a meaningful source of reflection for the future”.

Prisma came a month after La Repubblica reported in October 2021 that the football watchdog in Italy, Covisoc, had passed a report to Giuseppe Chine, the prosecutor in charge of the Italian Football Federation’s disciplinary commission, highlighting 62 transfers from the two years before. Juventus were featured in 42 of those transfers, which were examined to check whether the transaction fees were inflated or not.

The investigations led to the executives receiving bans from Italian football by the Italian FA (FIGC) for alleged financial malpractice. Those bans were later extended worldwide by FIFA.

After a failed appeal to his worldwide ban, Paratici resigned from his role as Tottenham’s managing director of football in April 2023, having joined in the summer of 2021, a few months before the Prisma investigation began. Paratici then appealed the scope of his extended ban, which was upheld a week later, and he has continued to work as a consultant at Spurs, in line with the terms of his ban.

“The plea agreement does not entail any admission or recognition of liability,” Juventus said in a statement released on Monday.

“The company, while reiterating the correctness of its conduct and the soundness of its defensive arguments, has deemed it appropriate to resort to this instrument in the best interest of the company itself, its shareholders and all stakeholders (within or outside the sporting sector), securing the conclusion of its procedural position in relation to a proceeding commenced in November 2021 and concerning matters now dating back in time.”

Former chairman Agnelli’s full statement read: “Today I reaffirm my deep respect for the competent Authorities tasked with evaluating my conduct, fully aware that the sporting and criminal investigations have been, on a personal level, a heavy burden but also a meaningful source of reflection for the future.

“The decision to request the application of a suspended sentence, without civil effects or accessory sanctions, and without any admission of responsibility, thus consistent with my position of innocence, has been an undoubtedly difficult one.

“Yet after much reflection, I am convinced it is the most appropriate path, given that this criminal proceeding, initiated nearly four years ago, remains at the preliminary hearing stage, and the alternative would have been an indefinite limbo dragging on for many more years. Having the opportunity today, I believe it is right to bring this long chapter to a close, in full respect of the procedures.

“My love for Juventus remains absolute and unchanged, as does my bond with Italy and, above all, with Turin, my city. My commitment as an investor in the energy transition remains firm through the growth of FIEE, Fondo Italiano per l’Efficienza Energetica, which has been active for nearly a decade under the leadership of a highly skilled management team.

“At the same time, I will continue with passion to serve as chairman of the IRCCS Candiolo Cancer Institute — Fondazione Piemontese per l’Oncologia, a role I have held since 2017 and one that makes me deeply proud, thanks to the extraordinary work of doctors and researchers who, every day, confront the fight against cancer while providing care to more than thirty-five thousand patients each year.

“Finally, for more than two years now I have been living in Amsterdam, the city where my family and I have chosen to settle and from which I will build my future projects.”

(Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images)

Click here to read article