Juve president banned for a year over illegal ticket sales

AFP

Juventus president Andrea Agnelli was banned for one year by the Italian soccer federation on Monday for his role in selling tickets to hardcore "ultra" fans that encouraged scalping.

The court also fined Juventus 300,000 euros (US$350,000).

The ban comes less than three weeks after Agnelli was elected to chair the 220-member European Club Association.

"Having taken note of today's decision by the FIGC's National Tribunal, Juventus preannounces its appeal to the FIGC Court of Appeal in the full conviction of its own good arguments, which have still not found adequate recognition," the Serie A club said in a statement.

"The club expresses its own satisfaction because today's sentence, even though it inflicted heavy bans on the president and other people involved, has 'after extensive evaluation of the evidentiary material' (page 11 of the sentence) excluded all alleged links with representatives of organized crime."

Federation prosecutor Giuseppe Pecoraro also said he would appeal for a harsher sentence. Pecoraro requested a 2 1/2-year suspension, a fine and an order to force Juventus to play two home matches behind closed doors.

"I am partially satisfied because we managed to prove everyone's guilt but the facts are so serious that I think they should be punished more," Pecoraro told Italian news agency Ansa. "The judgment of another court would be useful, taking into account that the resources coming from the ticket scalping went to a criminal organization, and that is very serious."

Agnelli allegedly authorized the sale of season passes and other tickets. He has acknowledged meeting with Rocco Dominello, an "ultra" fan linked to the Calabrian 'ndrangheta crime mob who has since been sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for scalping.

But Agnelli said the meetings came only with large numbers of other fans at celebratory occasions and that the club never intended to engage in illegal activity.

Juventus security director Alessandro D'Angelo has been banned for 15 months while ticketing director Stefano Merulla and former marketing director Francesco Calvo have also been handed one-year suspensions.

Each of the four has also been fined 20,000 euros for violating sporting integrity and illicit relations with fans.

The 41-year-old Agnelli has led Juventus, the club his family has owned for nearly a century, since 2010. Agnelli has also been a non-voting member of the UEFA executive committee since 2015. He received full voting rights last week at a UEFA meeting in Geneva.

Dominello's father, Saverio Dominello, was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a court in Turin in June for his role in the scalping case.

Anti-mafia prosecutors said the 'ndrangheta was involved in scalping among Juventus ultra fans for at least 15 years, guaranteeing order in the stadium in exchange for open ticket access.

Juventus has denied any wrongdoing.