Football: Juventus chairman Agnelli resigns with entire board
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Since 2010, Juventus won nine consecutive Italian top league titles, also known as “Scudetti,” under the leadership of Andrea Agnelli.
PHOTO: AFP
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MILAN – The board of Juventus, chaired by Andrea Agnelli, has resigned “in the best interest of the company”, the Italian Serie A team said on Monday.
The collective resignation comes after Juventus’ financial statements received scrutiny from prosecutors and Italian market regulator Consob in recent months for alleged false accounting and market manipulation.
The company had denied any wrongdoing.
The review of so-called salary manoeuvres led to a revision of estimates of accrual charges as at the end of June in each of 2020, 2021 and 2022, it said in a statement. It added that it had amended the balance sheets, to be approved by shareholders on Dec 27.
The Serie A giants said their directors had discussed the issue at a meeting on Monday and concluded it would be best addressed by a new board, given “the relevance of the pending legal and technical/accounting matters”.
They added they would have to restate their financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 2022.
The company, which is controlled by the Agnelli family’s holding company Exor, said it had asked chief executive officer Maurizio Arrivabene to maintain his position and had appointed Maurizio Scanavino as general manager.
The Agnelli family, which founded automaker Fiat SpA nearly 125 years ago, manages most of its properties through holding company Exor NV.
It also controls Ferrari, CNH Industrial and media publisher The Economist Group, and is the largest single investor in Stellantis.
The Agnelli family have owned Juventus, widely known as Juve, since 1923, and Exor is led by John Elkann.
Juventus said they had called a shareholder meeting on Jan 18 to appoint a new board.
Agnelli, who has chaired Juventus since 2010, will not seek reappointment, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
In a letter to Juventus staff seen by Reuters, Agnelli described the company situation as “delicate”.
“When the team is not cohesive it becomes vulnerable and that can be fatal,” he wrote.
“This is when you need to keep calm and contain damages: the company is going through a delicate phase and we’re no longer cohesive. Better to quit all together, giving the chance to a new team to turn the game around.”
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli’s family founded automaker Fiat SpA nearly 125 years ago and has owned Juve since 1923.
PHOTO: AFP
Since 2010, Juventus won nine consecutive Italian top flight titles, under the leadership of Agnelli. In 2021, Agnelli was one of the leading architects of the European Super League, a project that crumbled just days after its launch as teams pulled out after drawing ire from fans, politicians and sports officials.
Juventus entered the mid-season break third behind Napoli and AC Milan in Serie A. In September, the Turin-based club reported a €254 million (S$361.6 million) loss, the largest in the league’s history. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
