15 points deducted from Juventus due to suspicious deals

The Italian Football Association announced that it has deducted 15 points from Juventus in the local league due to suspicious transfer deals for players and falsifying financial statements.

The federation also suspended elements of the club's former management, including former president Andrea Agnelli, for two years, following new evidence from a separate criminal trial into the club's finances.

All eight other clubs facing sanctions from the Federation were acquitted, including Sampdoria and Empoli from the first division.

Juventus can appeal to the Italian Olympic Committee the decision that returns it from third to eleventh place (from 37 to 22 points after 18 games).

The federation also demanded that former executive director Maurizio Aravabeni be suspended for two years and former sports director Fabio Paracci, now in Tottenham, England, for 30 months.

The decision comes at a time when the Italian Federation reopened a trial that ended last year with the acquittal of Juventus and a group of other clubs, including league leaders Napoli.

It follows new evidence from a separate criminal investigation into Juventus' finances by prosecutors in Turin.

Juventus will know whether he and former board members will be criminally prosecuted for false accounting after a preliminary hearing scheduled for March.

Agnelli, along with the rest of the club's board of directors, stepped down from their positions last November, and Gianluca Ferrero was officially appointed in his place this week.

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