Stephen Dunmoye
Following the scrupulous scrutiny of Juventus’ financial statement for alleged false accounting and market manipulation, Juventus president, Andrea Agnelli and the entire board of directors have resigned.
The collective resignation was announced in a statement on the club’s official website.
Juventus recorded an annual loss of €254 million for last season which happens to be the first in the history of the club.
The board said in their statement, “The Board of Directors, considering the focus and relevance of the pending legal and technical-accounting issues, have deemed it in the best interest to recommend that Juventus adopt a new Board of Directors to deal with these issues.”
Alongside Agnelli, vice-president and legendary Czech Republic forward Pavel Nedved has offered his resignation as has chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene.
But Juventus have asked Arrivabene to remain in his position to transition over to the next board of directors.
Board members Laurence Debroux, Massimo Della Ragione, Katryn Fink, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio, Giorgio Tacchia and Suzanne Keywood have also stepped down.
Agnelli had been at the Juventus helm since 2010 and was one of the main figures in setting up the European Super League which failed to take shape last year, acting as vice-chairman of the division.
Juventus, under Agnelli’s stewardship, are still signed up to the breakaway league along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, despite the other nine European clubs quickly stepping away from the project due to backlash from the football community.
To take up the European Super League vice-chairman role, Agnelli had to resign from his executive-level positions in the European Club Association and the UEFA committee.
During his time as president, Juventus became one of the powerhouses of European football by dominating the Italian leagues winning nine Serie A titles in a row until 2019-20.
However, Juventus have fallen off their perch in recent seasons, with Inter and AC Milan winning the last two Serie A titles respectively.
Juventus are currently third in the Serie A table, 10 points behind leaders Napoli, and are currently managed by Massimiliano Allegri.