Juventus have been banned from UEFA competitions for financial irregularities, but there are several reasons why this decision is actually a sign of renewed unity between the club and Aleksander Ceferi.
The Bianconeri already had 10 points deducted in Serie A for these irregularities, pushing them from third to seventh in the 2022-23 season table.
They were accused of artificially inflating transfer fees for relatively unknown players when making swaps with other clubs, making it appear as if they were moving around larger assets than they actually were.
This in turn increased their capital gains and helped balance the books. Juve has argued throughout that their accounting techniques may be unusual, but they are not technically illegal.
At the same time, they have refused to appeal against the decision of the FIGC or this new one from UEFA.
This is a clear sign from the current hierarchy of the club, especially from John Elkann, that Juventus is breaking away from the Andrea Agnelli era and basically puts the blame on that board of directors.
“We prefer to end the period of uncertainty and ensure full visibility and security for our internal and external stakeholders for the club’s participation in future international competitions,” declared President Gianluca Ferrero in a statement.
“An appeal, possibly at other levels of adjudication, with uncertain results and times, would increase the uncertainty regarding our eventual participation in the Champions League for the 2024/25 edition.”
“This confirms that Juventus’ lawyers feared further punishment as the investigation into the capital gains scandal grows, so they preferred to take a plea deal and end the uncertainty that saw them anchor points last season , to reinstate them on appeal and anchor again”, he added further.
It also allows the club to be on good terms with UEFA and Ceferi, who were angered by Agnelli’s decision to lead the breakaway European Super League project with Real Madrid and Barcelona.
They were the only clubs still linked to the project and Juve officially withdrew a few weeks ago, another attempt to repair the bridges Agnelli had burned with UEFA.