Juve seek lighter penalty Sunday 23 July, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juventus have told the Calciopoli appeals court that failure to reduce their initial sentence could have “devastating consequences” on the Italian outfit.
The Bianconeri are one of four clubs trying to reverse the CAF court’s initial judgement after the quartet were found guilty of sporting fraud.
Juventus were stripped of their last two titles, demoted to Serie B and handed a 30-point deduction for the 2006-07 campaign.
That points penalty was found hard to digest by the Old Lady who have today been given a chance to plead for leniency.
“We estimate that Juventus will have to earn around 80 points – the equivalent of winning 27 matches – to just survive in Serie B next term,” argued lawyer Cesare Zaccone in front of the five-man appeal court panel.
Zaccone also reminded the hearing that if the initial verdict was not reduced it would seriously affect the club financially in terms of sponsorship revenue, TV rights and also hit shareholders.
He also argued that the outfit, following the high profile departures of Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta last week, had already been punished by the first grade sentence.
"The career for a footballer is short and some of our best players are world champions," he continued. "None of them wants to risk two years in Serie B or, worse still, relegation to Serie C1.”
Juventus were implicated in the scandal after the publication of numerous phone calls between former director general Luciano Moggi and officials regarding the appointment of referees.
As part of the investigation, Fiorentina, Lazio and Milan were also found guilty of wrongdoing during the 2004-05 campaign.
Lazio and Fiorentina have also been stripped of their Serie A status and will start with minus seven and minus 12 points respectively.
Milan have kept their place in Serie A but have been deducted 44 points from last season’s tally which means they will not be allowed to enter the Champions League.
The Rossoneri will also start the 2006-07 campaign with a 15-point deduction in the First Division.
All of the clubs are appealing, but so too is FIGC prosecutor Stefano Palazzi who has told the court that he wants Juventus relegated to Serie C and Milan to B.
It’s unclear when the appeal verdicts will be delivered, even if they are expected between Monday and Wednesday of next week.
“I found an attentive court and they were taking lots of notes,” added Zaccone as he left for lunch. “We’re optimistic.”