Juventus’ board members, led by European Super League founder Andrea Agnelli, have resigned after an emergency meeting at the club.
Agnelli, who was appointed chairman in 2010, is joined by Juve legend Pavel Nedved and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene as well as eight other board members in leaving the club.
An official statement from the Italian confirmed the departures after what was called an ‘extraordinary meeting’ by the Italian media.
Gazzetta dello Sport say the decision was made after CONSOB, the body in charge of supervising activities in the stock exchange market, asked for clarification on the club’s balance sheet from June 2021.
Juventus were under investigation for alleged false accounting and false communications to the market, with Turin prosecutors looking into suspicious transfers from financial statements for 2018, 2019 and 2020. Juventus deny any wrongdoing.
Following CONSOB’s request into the June 2021 accounts, the Serie A giants postponed their shareholders meeting from November 23 to December 27, but the entire board of directors have now resigned before it could take place.
In a lengthy statement on Juventus.com – which singled out the June 2021 accounts – the Italian side confirmed the resignations.
“The members of the Board of Directors, considering the centrality and relevance of the pending legal and technical-accounting issues, have deemed it in the best social interest to recommend that Juventus adopt a new Board of Directors to address these issues.
“To this end, on the proposal of the Chairman Andrea Agnelli and in order to allow the decision on the renewal of the Board to be referred to the Shareholders’ Meeting as soon as possible, all the members of the Board of Directors present at the meeting declared that they resigned from their office.”
The board have requested that former Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Arrivabene remains in his post as CEO to oversee the change, but Agnelli’s departure marks a monumental departure.
The club have been under the ownership of the Agnelli family since 1923, with the business dynasty also known for founding motoring giants Fiat.
Agnelli took up his role as chairman in 2010, underseeing an incredible period in the club’s history where they won their first Serie A title since 2003 in the 2011/12 season, and went on to take eight more consecutive titles as well as reach two Champions League finals.
However, the Italian became the subject of a story that rocked football in April 2021 when he resigned from his role as chairman of the European Club Association to become a vice-chair of the ill-fated European Super League project.
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