Andrea Agnelli and the entire Board of Directors for Juventus have resigned en masse in the best interest of the company,”.
Their resignation comes in face of strong allegations that the club falsified financial statements and records and was guilty of market manipulation.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Juventus announced that 23 players had agreed to reduce their salaries for four months to help the club through the crisis. But an investigative report has claimed the players surrendered only a month’s salary which the club did not report.
Prosecutors have been investigating since last year whether Juventus also cashed in on illegal commissions from transfers and loans of players. The case is also dealing with if the investors were misled by invoices being issued for non-existent transactions to demonstrate income that in turn could be deemed false accounting.
The club has denied any wrongdoings on their part.
Juventus said its directors discussed the matter at a meeting on Monday and concluded that a new board will be best for handling the matter given “the relevance of the pending legal and technical/accounting matters.”
Juventus said it has called a shareholder meeting on Jan. 18 to appoint a new board.
Under Andrea Agnelli, who took charge in 2010, Juventus was transformed into one of the best clubs in Europe winning 9 Serie A titles, 5 Coppa Italia titles and also making two Champions League final appearances.
His reign was also filled with controversy with Juventus being one of the 12 clubs that tried to form a European Super League, an idea that was quickly thwarted.
The club has struggled to match the previous highs in recent times but was just on a comeback trail before being hit by this scandal.
