Juventus have been shown little mercy by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) over alleged ‘false accounting’, docked fifteen points which sees them slide to tenth in the Serie A and puts hopes of European competition next season in doubt.

Adriano Del Monte believes the club are ‘absolutely certain’ to challenge the findings, which pertain to their valuation of outgoing players to lessen the weight of their assets. With upwards of nine other Italian clubs also investigated, it’s apparent this is an issue a long way from a conclusion.

‘What Juventus have been accused of, and what the Federation have found strong evidence of them doing, is essentially fudging their books. Ensuring their capital gains (or ‘plusvalenze’) have been just a little better on paper than in reality,’ Del Monte told Box2Box.

‘When talking about capital gains in football, essentially we’re talking about transfer dealings, money coming in and out. There have been a number of players going out on loan from Juventus, or being sold, that have potentially been overvalued to make it look like they have offloaded more than a certain player is actually worth.’

Del Monte highlighted the movement of players Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanic between Juventus and Barcelona, in separate but mutually beneficial and allegedly collusive transactions in the depths of Covid-19 in mid-2020, as the alarm bells to the broader issue of over-valuation in the game.

‘The infamous sale was of two players between clubs in significant debt, which involved Arthur going from Barca to Juve and Pjanic going the other way. Two players who had had solid careers, who at the time worth between, say, €20-30 million.

‘But as per the official sale, each club paid the other in excess of €70 million to make it appear they had balanced their books, when in fact it wasn’t the case.’

Juventus and other investigated clubs had been absolved by the FIGC’s initial investigation in April 2022, having found a players’ worth was largely subjective. But separate to the football board, legal prosecutors had commenced their own investigation into the nation’s most successful club.

‘Juventus’ process has been fast tracked because they immediately appealed the decision. The other clubs include (AC) Milan, Roma, Napoli – which would be a disaster given the season they’ve had. They are to be investigated further, there could be more to come regarding other clubs.

‘Juve are sticking to the fact that they don’t believe they’ve done enough wrong to warrant the fifteen-point deduction. The initial report did state it was going to be a nine-point deduction… from what I’m being told, it can now only either stay at fifteen, or be wiped completely.

‘With regards to the Europa League and European competition, that’s UEFA, FIFA, another kettle of fish altogether, and there will be further investigation done by those organisations. Overall, it’s another big blow to Italian football and all the recent progress that has been made.’