The letter to Cristiano that sank Juventus: plot of a new deception in Serie A

They suffer in Turin. Juventus are once again in the midst of a scandal over controversies off the pitch. On January 20, the prosecutor of the Italian Serie A Football Federation determined that Vecchia Signora lost 15 points in the table for their involvement in the manipulation of transfers for accounting purposes. So that currently, after the 3-3 draw with Atalanta, they have 23 units.

The situation surprises the world of football. It’s all due to accounting fraud in some transfers. The club bianconeri presented irregularities in the purchase and sale prices of players, in order to generate positive balances. This is what happens, for example, with the transfer of Miralem Pjanic to Barcelona, ​​for 60 million euros, and the purchase of Arthur Melo, from the same club, for 76 million of the same currency.

With 15 fewer units, the Turin workforce is complicated in its aspirations in the Italian First Division. “When they told me the request was nine points, I immediately calculated the distance to the Champions League. When the 15 point sentence came up, I made another one. To achieve this, you have to do something extraordinary,” said Massimiliano Allegri, the coach.

The penalties that have fallen are not only sporting. Some leaders have also been sanctioned. Fabio Paratici (2.5 years old, disabled), Andrea Agnelli (2 years old), Maurizio Arrivabene (2 years old), Federico Cherubini (1.4 years old) and Pavel Nedved (8 months old) are the names implicated in the accusation.

At Juventus, they have the option to appeal the decision. However, with the days, far from improving their situation, the facts that appear complicate the panorama. One of the most incriminating documents is a letter sent to Cristiano Ronaldo at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the club had agreed a supposed pay cut with their players.

The document reveals that the sports institution has agreed to pay the Portuguese star 19.8 million euros, which corresponds to his four months’ salary. So the prosecution discovered that the deal was not a waiver of money by the campus, as the club had alleged, but a deferral of payment. The returns, logically, do not appear in the annual reports.

“Dear Mr. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. We follow the agreements concluded and attach to this document that relating to the additional premium recognized in your favor and the subsequent additional act of the additional price agreement “, reads the letter. which exposed the media Corriere della Sera.

“In the event that, after his final transfer, the condition established for the acquisition of the identified bonuses is not met, he will have the right to receive an incentive for dismissal,” he adds.

The punishment doesn’t leave them near the bottom, but it brings back memories of one of the darkest times in Juventus history. In 2006, 17 years ago, the Turin team was relegated to what was the biggest scandal in memory at Calcio: the purchase of referees.

The corrupt club sign returns to haunt the Allianz Stadium. At the end of the 2005-06 academic year, the Vecchia Signora experienced one of the most publicized scandals in Europe. He lost the category due to match fixing and was stripped of two of his Serie A titles.

A public prosecutor’s investigation concluded that Luciano Moggi, Juventus’ chief executive, and Antonio Giraudo, the club’s CEO, influenced the appointment of judges who administered justice on Italian football grounds during the 2004-05 seasons and 2005-2005. As part of the investigation, the interception of calls made by Moggi was a key element.

In the audios, The manager specifically asked the FIGC refereeing manager, Pierluigi Pairetto, to help them appoint whistlers. From what the chief said, he had a list of those who “did service” to the club he represented. In addition to meet other people who have secretly sympathized with the team in such a way that in direct rival matches they could make charges that favor them in the table.

The scandal, on this occasion, took on unsuspected proportions. With the investigations carried out by the prosecution, they discovered that other clubs were involved in similar rigging. Pairetto not only held calls with people linked to Juventus, but also with important figures from other calcium institutions. The findings were that Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio games were also fixed.

Of course, none of the aforementioned castings suffered as much as the club where Arturo Vidal would shine years later. The red and black box will start the 2006-2007 season with -8 points and enter the third round of the Champions League which they had initially classified directly in the group stage. On the other hand, the alto institution and the blanquicelestes suffered a decrease of 15 and 3 points respectively for the incoming course.

Juventus spent a year in Serie B. They lost several of their figures, but others decided to stay at the club. He started the season with -9 units and, even so, he was able to move up in category immediately. Back in Serie A, they had a transition period before resuming the triumphs of yesteryear.

Between 2008 and 2011, the bianconeri They went from ninth to second place. Until the 2011-12 academic year, they started a series of titles that at one time were considered unbeatable. They have won the Italian First Division for eight consecutive years. At that time of glory, there was a Chilean who actively participated in the first four conquests: Arturo Vidal.

The shuttlecock trained in Colo Colo He arrived in Turin in 2011, after passing through Bayer Leverkusen and was the protagonist of the titles won by the team in the black and white jersey. , first managed by Antonio Conte and then by Massimiliano Allegri, had their finest moment of the 2014-15 season when they reached the UEFA Champions League final. A feat that will be repeated in 2017, but without the Chilean in its ranks.

The crown streak was cut in 2021, when Inter were able to take the sceptre from him. The following year, the champion was Milan. And now Juve are far from ahead. Especially after the penalty. Also, far from losing category, but there again with the weight of corruption, the ghosts of a not very encouraging past are returning to Turin.