Tottenham Director of Football Paratici hit with 30-month Italy ban
Paratici worked for Juventus for 11 years before joining Tottenham in June 2021
Written by Training Ground Guru — January 21, 2023
FABIO PARATICI, Tottenham’s Managing Director of Football, has been banned from working in Italian football for 30 months, with a request that the ban be “extended to UEFA and FIFA activities.”
The ban was handed down by the Italian Football Federation, which found Paratici’s former club, Juventus, guilty of false accounting, market manipulation and filing misleading financial statements.
The investigation had centred on Juventus’s published accounts for three years to 2021, with "capital gains declarations" under particular scrutiny. Paratici was Juve's Managing Director, Football for 11 years prior to joining Tottenham in June 2021.
The English side are now seeking clarification on the implications of the ruling.
As a result of the ruling, Juventus have been hit with a 15-point deduction in Serie A and former President Andrea Agnelli and former CEO Maurizio Arrivabene have been banned from Italian football for two years.
Current Sporting Director Federico Cherubini was given a 16-month ban and board member Pavel Nedved handed an eight-month ban.
In 2021, the Italian federation launched an investigation into 62 transfers involving various clubs to establish whether player valuations had been artificially inflated. This could, potentially, have enabled clubs to dodge Financial Fair Play rules.
Eleven clubs, including Juve, were cleared of wrongdoing in April 2022, but an investigation led by Turin’s public prosecutor continued. This went on to uncover additional evidence.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the club stated that 23 players had agreed to reduce their salaries for four months to help the club through the crisis. However, prosecutors claim the players only gave up one month’s salary. According to reports in Italy, prosecutors have also discovered "secret payments" to former player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Juventus could face further penalties from UEFA, which has opened an inquiry into the club’s finances.
Gianluca Ferrero was appointed as Juventus’s new president on Wednesday, presiding over a smaller five-person Board. The club have denied accusations of wrongdoing and will be able to lodge an appeal against the decision within 30 days.
