Chiellini interrogation testimony: players know that Juve’s official announcement is not in line with the actual agreement

December 22-the Turin prosecutor’s investigation into Juventus’ financial fraud is still ongoing, the trial testimony of former Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini has also been made public, and La Gazzetta dello Sport has excerpted some of its special report.
What is certain is that the hearing on the Juve case cannot be confirmed before February next year, while the Turin prosecution investigation is still ongoing, and prosecutors Ciro Santoriello, Mario Bendoni and Marco Gianoglio have released a number of investigation documents, including Chiellini’s full testimony before a magistrate on April 4 this year, with 10 pages of questions and answers.
90% of Chiellini’s testimony was about the collective pay cut for Juve players from 2019 to 2020, when Juve officially announced that the players had “given up” their four-month salary, saving the club 90 million euros. However, Turin prosecutors believe that the 90 million euros are not given up but delayed and are not included in Juve’s official financial statement, which is a financial fraud.
That is why in recent weeks Turin prosecutors have called for the prosecution of 12 senior Juventus officials, including Agnelli, Pavel Nedved, Arivabene and Paladic. Charges include manipulating the transfer market, false official announcements, issuing false invoices, obstructing regulatory functions and other crimes.
The following is an excerpt from Chiellini’s testimony:
The prosecutor asked: what information can you provide about the salary payment for the 2020 season in 2019?
Chiellini replied: “when the club was in trouble and economic crisis, I was asked to act as a mediator between the players and the management. One day in March, I can’t remember exactly. I started to communicate with my teammates.” find out if they are willing to help the club solve their problems. ”
“first of all, there is the question of salary payment, because there was no mobile income at that time, I coordinated between the two sides, the representatives of the club were president Agnelli and director Palladzic, and on the other side were all the players, many of whom were my very close teammates.”
“the problem facing the club at that time was a lack of liquidity in the short term, followed by a lot of uncertainty because we did not know what would happen in the future, when the league had been shut down and there was a real risk that it could not be recovered.”
“after many exchanges with the club and teammates, the final decision was to temporarily give up four months’ salary to let the club through the difficult times, and promised that once the season resumed, no matter whether it could win the championship or not, the money will be compensated in the form of a bonus, depending on the number of games, the amount of compensation is about two to three months’ salary.”
“personally, I am satisfied with reaching an agreement. I have no doubts about what Juve executives have done to me over the years, and if Andre and Fabio assure me, then there is nothing to worry about.”
The prosecutor asked: which players are in favor of this agreement? Which ones disagree? How do you communicate with each other?
Chiellini replied: “it’s not easy to convince teammates, but they accepted it, because if the league can restart, we can get the money back, and in the end, we communicate through the phone and chat software.” everyone has their own opinions, it’s not easy. ”
“I don’t remember who was in favor and who was against it, but in the end everyone accepted it, and it didn’t change that much for us to give up a few months’ salary, of course we certainly hope to be paid on time.”
The prosecutor asked: what if a player leaves the team at the end of the season?
Chiellini replied: “in my personal case, the money will be deposited as a personal bonus in the following year.”
The prosecutor asked: you got back three months’ salary in the 2020-2021 season. According to the agreement at that time, was the money refunded unconditionally or conditionally?
Chiellini: “it is certain to be returned and will be distributed in the next few seasons, but there are also people who get it in batches within a year.”
The prosecutor asked: Juve’s official announcement only mentioned giving up four months’ salary, but did not mention the refund of three months’ salary, or reaching an agreement or bonus.
Chiellini: “I noticed this. I remember that some players from other teams also contacted me. Their club also tried to reach an agreement with the players. I explained to them the situation at Juve.” I replied to those players: some of the money will be returned to you in the next few years and will be available as soon as the next year. ”
“all of us (including other Juve players) are clear in any case that the agreement we have actually reached is different from that in Juve’s official announcement.”
“We gave up the salary only for the sake of the club, we don’t know what they will do with the financial statements, or: we also know that they claimed that the players gave up 90 million euros, but I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do.”