Exor boss and Juventus powerbroker John Elkann has wrote to shareholders about the Bianconeri’s past year.
This season has seen former president Andrea Agnelli and his board resign, with Juve also deducted 15 points this season over a capital gains investigation.
Elkann declared: “To a greater extent than many of our clubs, Juventus in 2022 found itself facing growing internal and external adversities, which the Club struggled to face.
“Overall, European football is failing to keep pace with the growing financial power of the Premier League, whose revenues are expected to triple those of Serie A by the end of this season. The effects of this dominance can be seen on the transfer market, which in turn plays a fundamental role in the successes of the clubs: in the 2022 summer session, the gross transfer expenditure of the Premier League was equal to the aggregate expenditure of Serie A, Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 and this situation continued in the winter session with only Chelsea spending more than the total expenditure of all the clubs in the four leagues.
“In this context, Juventus recorded a significant loss of €239 million for the year and for the first time since 2011 the men’s team did not win any titles. However, it was the legal proceedings against the club that occupied the company’s board which met 18 times during the year. The level of pressure has increased to the point that the Board has decided to resign in order to allow the club to protect itself most effectively against allegations ranging from alleged accounting inadequacies to inaccurate disclosures to the financial markets, mainly relating to player transfers and salaries.
“Juventus denies any wrongdoing. I thank the Juventus board of directors for having acted responsibly and in particular its president Andrea Agnelli, who led Juventus in a era of transformation and victories. The club has enjoyed considerable success winning everything in Italy and internationally and has hosted 27 world champions, more than any other club in history. This level of sporting success, which brings joy to our supporters, creates considerable animosity which can arise when the club faces certain challenges.
“Juventus now has a new president, Gianluca Ferrero, and a new CEO, Maurizio Scanavino, who is also at the helm of our media company GEDI, where he is leading a successful turnaround. At Juventus Gianluca and Maurizio will be supported by a new board of directors and are off to a good start to ensure Juventus meet their current challenges while safeguarding their reputation to enable them to come back stronger on and off the pitch.”
