Subscribe
Follow Us
UEFA has ruled that Italian giant Juventus is suspended from European competitions for one year, effective immediately, due to financial fair play (FFP) violations. The Juventus ban means the Serie A side is officially out of the 2023-24 Europa Conference League.
In 2022, UEFA reached a settlement with Juventus after the Italian club breached FFP regulations by failing to meet the break-even requirements. However, this ban came after UEFA decided that Juventus “violated UEFA’s regulatory framework and breached the settlement agreement signed in August 2022.”
Juventus asserted its innocence of these charges on its website, saying in a press release (translated from Italian), “We regret the decision of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body. We do not share the interpretation that has been given of our defense theses and we remain firmly convinced of the correctness of our actions and the validity of our arguments.”
That said, they are not appealing this ruling and look at it as closure to UEFA’s FFP investigation.
This is just the latest in a string of punishments doled out to Juventus for financial misdoings between 2019 and 2021. Last season, Serie A docked Juve 15 points in the standings. An Italian court reduced the penalty to 10 points, but the damage was done.
Those 10 points are the reason that Juventus is in the Europa Conference League this year instead of the more prestigious Champions League or Europa League. Those 10 points would have given Juve 72 last year, tying them with Inter Milan and putting them in fourth place based on goal differential.
While this Juventus ban is bad news for the Italian side, there are two European clubs that benefit. Aston Villa, of the English Premier League, will now be in the seeded pot for August’s two-legged playoff, and the eighth-place Serie A side, Fiorentina, will now be in the Europa Conference League.
