Juventus president Andrea Agnelli banned for one year over ticket touting

Published on: 25 September 2017

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Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has been banned for one year by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for his role in selling tickets to hardcore ultra fans that encouraged touting.

The ban comes less than three weeks after Agnelli was elected to chair the 220-member European Club Association, while the FIGC has also fined Juventus €300,000.

Agnelli's lawyer said they will appeal. The FIGC's prosecutor, Giuseppe Pecoraro, also said he would appeal for a harsher sentence.

Pecoraro had requested a two-and-a-half-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. "I think the judgment of another court would be useful, taking into account that the resources coming from the ticket [touting] went to a criminal organisation, and that is very serious.''

Agnelli allegedly authorised the sale of season tickets 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 touting, also known as scalping.

Andrea Agnelli's family have owned Juventus for nearly a century.

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 have also been fined €20,000 for violating sporting integrity and illicit relations with fans.

The 41-year-old Agnelli has led Juventus, the club his family have 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 touting case.

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

Juventus have denied any wrongdoing.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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