Juventus reaches settlement in salary case with no further point deductions

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Juventus reaches settlement in salary case with no further point deductions

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Juventus are set to finish the Serie A season outside of the Champions League spots
Juventus are set to finish the Serie A season outside of the Champions League spotsReuters
Italy's footballing authorities on Tuesday said they had reached a settlement agreement with Juventus in a case centred on alleged irregularities concerning the club's payment of players' salaries.

With the settlement, Italy's most successful club aims to clear the slate with authorities before the end of the current Serie A season, and provide clarity for its future, which has been clouded by financial scandals.

Under the terms of the agreement, Juventus will pay a 718,000 euro fine and renounce any appeals in ongoing sports cases.

There will be no further points deducted for this season, after earlier this year losing 10 points in a separate case regarding the club's player transfers.

Milan-listed shares in Juventus rose as much as 9.9% after the settlement was announced and were up 6.5% by 13:25 CET.

Juventus said that, while reiterating the correctness of their actions and the soundness of their arguments, they had decided to accept the settlement "in the best interest" of the club itself, their shareholders and stakeholders.

"The settlement of all open FIGC sports proceedings allows the company to achieve a definite result," Juventus said in a statement, adding this would remove "tension and instability" and allow the club to focus on planning for next season.

With one match left to play, the agreement leaves Juventus seventh in the Serie A table, allowing them to qualify for next season's Europa Conference League and still potentially aspiring for a spot in the more lucrative Europa League.

However, the club might have to forfeit a place in European competitions because of sanctions that could be imposed in a separate probe by European football's ruling body UEFA, newspapers have reported.

Tuesday's settlement also includes fines for seven Juventus former and current executives, while the position of former Chairman Andrea Agnelli (47) will be assessed in a hearing on June 15th, FIGC said.

Inquiries into Juventus by sports authorities were triggered by investigations from criminal prosecutors in Turin, where the club are based, in a case regarding alleged false accounting.

As part of this case, Agnelli, 11 other people and the club itself risk standing trial.

The club have denied any wrongdoing on this and said their accounting is in line with industry standards.