Can Juventus recover from nightmare summer?

This summer saw one of the biggest football scandals of all time revealed in the heart of Italian Football, the most successful Italian football clubs were the focus of this scandal. Many clubs were implicated, but without doubt Juventus was hardest hit. The Australian lists, “bribery, blackmail, extortion, violence, kidnapping, tax evasion, illegal gambling and money laundering” as some of the pursuits that went on in the Serie A. Involved in these allegations are, “star players, referees, linesman, club managers, government ministers, judges, tax inspectors, police officers, and even a TV sports show host.”

As a result of a decision by the Italian Football Federation, the Italian league champions were stripped of their last two titles, relegated to Serie B (as were Lazio and Fiorentina) with a 17 point penalty to start the season with. The club has also been banned from all international competitions for this season. Although Juventus appealed this decision they have since withdrawn the appeal.

These decisions have affected the club dramatically, firstly with the resignation of manager Capello in July, followed shortly by an exodus of players to “top league” clubs. World class players such as Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Emerson, Ibrahmiovic, Viera and Thuram all left during the summer. Somewhat surprisingly (due to the Serie B salary cap) however, some of the top players have decided to stay, such as Buffon, Nedved, Camoranesi and Del Piero.

The decision will have hurt the club most from a financial point of view as they now have no European Football revenue and there are strict rules on investment within Serie B. This point was proved recently when the club opted to drop a plan to develop its Turin stadium (€100-150 million) in favour a new plan costing just €18 million.

Despite their problems, Juventus are currently top of Serie B (ignoring the penalty) and can be backed at 2.60 (8/5) on Betfair to win the league this season.

It is clear that corruption has not fully been stamped out in Italy, as is illustrated by the recent disciplinary decision involving the Sampdoria striker Franchesco Flachi. He has received a two-month ban for his role in an illegal gambling ring and Sampdoria were fined €20,000 for “objective responsibility”.