Two Spurs players could be suspended from Premier League after being entangled in Juventus financial scandal
Since the initial ruling that resulted in a 15-point deduction for Juventus in Serie A and a possible 2.5-year suspension for Tottenham Hotspur managing director of football Fabio Paratici, more fallout from the Prisma scandal has emerged.
Nonetheless, if this interpretation of some of the punishments is accurate, Spurs fans will become even more righteously enraged.
During the pandemic, Juventus falsified its books by publicly announcing that its players would temporarily forego pay in order to assist the club, while privately compensating them.
Giorgio Chiellini, captain of Juventus, basically admitted it and revealed the entire scheme in the team’s group chat, and the players accepted their illicit pay.
This is significant because Juventus is a publicly traded company, which places heightened scrutiny on matters of this nature.
The club falsified its financial records, but it appears that the players who accepted the money may also be in trouble.
Paolo Ziliani, an Italian journalist, claims that every Juventus player who accepted the deal could be suspended for 30 days. Also included in this category are Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
The following are excerpts from the Twitter thread. [Google Translate translation]
Tutti squalificati. Per almeno un mese. In questo campionato. Forse già a breve. E sì, lo so, non è una notizia di poco conto. I media italiani tremano al pensiero di darla, ma forse è il caso di non fare gli schizzinosi: almeno si evitano svenimenti come per il -15 (1. segue) pic.twitter.com/435Kn6HUS5
— Paolo Ziliani (@ZZiliani) January 24, 2023
All disqualified. For at least a month. In this league. Maybe already soon. And yes, I know, it’s not trivial news. The Italian media tremble at the thought of giving it, but perhaps it is appropriate not to be squeamish: at least fainting like for -15 [points] is avoided.
Tutti i tesserati coinvolti sono stati interrogati e hanno ammesso le circostanze. Due giocatori, #DeLigt e #DeSciglio, hanno fornito ai magistrati copia della chat Whatsapp in cui #Chiellini spiegava a tutti l’imbroglio suggerendo di non farne parola con i giornalisti (4. segue)
— Paolo Ziliani (@ZZiliani) January 24, 2023
All members involved were questioned and admitted the circumstances. Two players, #DeLigt and #DeSciglio , provided the magistrates with a copy of the Whatsapp chat in which #Chiellini explained the scam to everyone, suggesting not to mention it to journalists.
Poichè si parla di tariffario, queste sanzioni scatteranno in automatico. Ciò significa che fra un mese, o forse prima, tutti i giocatori (più #Sarri) ancora in attività verranno fermati per un mese: compresi #Dybala, #Demiral, #Kulusevski, #Bentancur ecc. (7. segue) pic.twitter.com/sfSQOwCltD
— Paolo Ziliani (@ZZiliani) January 24, 2023
All members involved were questioned and admitted the circumstances. Two players, #DeLigt and #DeSciglio , provided the magistrates with a copy of the Whatsapp chat in which #Chiellini explained the scam to everyone, suggesting not to mention it to journalists.
Since we are talking about tariffs, these penalties will be triggered automatically. This means that in a month, or maybe sooner, all players (plus #Sarri ) still active will be stopped for a month: including #Dybala , #Demiral , #Kulusevski , #Bentancur etc.
Now, ok. Kulusevski and Bentancur are no longer Juventus players, and this was an Italian sport court ruling, so I have essentially the same concerns regarding these suspensions as I do regarding Paratici’s 2.5-year suspension. Does this apply to their current circumstance in England and as Tottenham Hotspur players?
We simply do not know. We are aware that the court is petitioning FIFA to extend Paratici’s suspension to the entire football world, effectively rendering his position untenable beginning in March.
If they are able to do so, it seems possible that these charges against Bentancur and Kulusevski will stick.
But that is absurd. I don’t understand why you blame the players for participating in a half-baked scheme to manipulate the books during COVID instead of the club that conceived the scheme.
The players are willing to agree to anything as long as they believe the club will pay them the money they are contractually obligated to receive.
I’m becoming increasingly irrationally angry as I consider the possibility that Tottenham could be without two of its best players because their former club (and, okay, their current DoF) decided to commit crimes. Ideally, this is not true. Hopefully, this remains a problem for Juventus and not Tottenham. Hopefully, I’m exaggerating the situation here.
Two Spurs players could be suspended from Premier League after being entangled in Juventus financial scandal
