Fabio Paratici Q&A: Why has Tottenham director of football been banned and what happens next?
It’s not getting better for Tottenham, is it? Just days after his announcement that Antonio Conte had left the club, its director of football Fabio Paratici, who is tasked with finding his replacement, has been banned from football around the world, plunging the club into chaos.
Paratici was handed a 30-month ban by the Italian FA in January earlier this year, and the 50-year-old, one of numerous current and former Juventus executives, was punished for false accounting. But, until now, that ban only applied in Italy.
That all changed on Wednesday morning when FIFA, at the request of the Italian FA, confirmed that the ban would extend to the entire world. They stated: “FIFA can confirm that, following a request by the Italian FA (FIGC), the president of the FIFA disciplinary committee has decided to extend the sanctions imposed by FIGC on various football officials so that they have worldwide effect.”
Tottenham have since issued a statement saying they are “urgently seeking further clarification from FIFA” on the matter.
Unsurprisingly, the Spurs official, who has been in his role since the summer of 2021, denies any wrongdoing. Like the other executives who received bans. The same goes for Juventus, who were left with 15 points in Serie A as a result, and an appeal has already been launched.
But what exactly got Paratici and his colleagues in trouble? What does it mean for his future at Tottenham? And what happens next? Sportsmail describes the responses below.
Fabio Paratici has seen his 30-month ban in Italy extended to everyone by FIFA
Why has Fabio Paratici been banned?
We start with the obvious question. It is important to note, first of all, that of the 11 executives who received sanctions, Paratici, who spent 11 years at Juventus, was the longest, with two and a half years.
Meanwhile, former president Andrea Agnelli and chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene received two-year bans, while former vice president and player Pavel Nedved received eight months.
The sanctions -and the deduction of points- were carried out after the investigation of ‘Prisma’, in which the prosecutor alleged that the club misrepresented the losses, in particular with regard to the amount imputed to the sale of players.
What this means, in simpler terms, is that Juventus were accused of fixing their balance sheets, which are more important than ever in the era of financial fair play, by inflating their transfer fees to achieve capital gains.
To explain capital gains, you can use the Juventus-Barcelona trade deal involving Arthur Melo and Miralem Pjanic as an example, even though the two deals were not “officially” connected.
It looks like the Tottenham director of football will be forced to take a two and a half year break from the game.
Miralem Pjanic’s controversial swap deal has come to define what saw them found guilty of false accounting.
Juventus’ board of directors resigned as one last year before bans ranging from eight months to two and a half years were imposed on them.
There, Barcelona acquired Pjanic for €60m, while Juventus agreed to pay an initial €72m for Arthur. In doing so, Juventus only had to show €12m in spending, while apparently generating €60m; therefore, both clubs achieved capital gains.
Juventus were not the only club initially accused of wrongdoing during this period, with 10 other clubs also claiming they fixed their balance sheets through artificial profits from club transfers. But, in April last year, the 11 clubs and 59 people involved were acquitted by the Italian Federal Court.
However, the case was reopened last December, with nine clubs, including Juventus, back in the firing line. This was after the entire Juventus board of directors resigned the previous month, and after the Italian club posted annual losses of £220m over the previous season.
Juventus was the only club to be sanctioned after the case was reopened, and the other eight clubs were acquitted.
The story does not end here, however. An appeal against the sanctions implemented by the Italian FA, which includes the deduction of points and the banning of people, will be heard by the Italian Olympic Committee on April 19.
Meanwhile, Juventus and the 11 former Juventus officials are now undergoing a hearing, postponed until May, to determine whether they should face a civil trial over the allegations of false accounting and market manipulation.
What exactly does this mean for Paratici?
As it is, you may have to walk away from your role. As stated, the ban on him is now in place worldwide, rather than just in Italy, in what is a major issue for Tottenham.
Yes, Paratici has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but his future at the club is now in doubt. Perhaps he already was, after being completely left out of the Spurs statement announcing the departure of Conte.
The 50-year-old man is now unable to fulfill his duties and will not move on. That is, of course, unless he successfully appeals his ban, which lawyers insist is unlikely.
However, even if his appeal is successful, it won’t come overnight, and it looks like the Italian will have to step away from the club at least temporarily.
The rarity of Paratici coming out to bat for Tottenham on Tuesday was underscored by his suspension the following day.
What has Tottenham said?
Not much. In fact, nothing. The club has yet to respond to the explosive news on Wednesday, although an official statement is expected to come.
What’s worse for Tottenham is that only on Tuesday did they publish a lengthy interview with Paritici, in which he insisted that Conte’s departure was the right decision, while asking fans to continue to support him until the end of the campaign. .
Paratici now, ironically, also stressed to the players to stay focused on the task at hand, urging them not to be distracted by the club’s latest management campaign. The interview remains on the club’s website and on its social networks.
Tottenham are yet to say anything on the matter, though the Supporters’ Trust said it further outlined the “worrying situation” at the club.
Although the club has remained silent, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust have called for clarity.
“This news adds to the extremely worrying situation at the club,” read a statement.
‘No manager, no director of football and uncertainty surrounding our star player (Harry Kane) and our season finale. The fans deserve to hear a clear statement of strategy.’
What happens next?
Now we wait. It could be that Paratici appeals against his 30-month ban by FIFA, in which case it is likely to prove to be a long drawn-out case in court.
As described by the club’s own Supporters’ Trust, it further underscores the tumult and uncertainty surrounding Tottenham.
With Harry Kane’s future still uncertain as he enters the final year of his contract, the club faces a difficult end to the season without a permanent manager and, apparently, a director of football.
Daniel Levy’s Tottenham states that it has made “urgent inquiries” to FIFA in a statement
Tottenham have since issued a statement on the matter, which read: “Following today’s media reports of the decision by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to extend worldwide the sanction imposed by the Federal Court of Appeal of the FIGC to Fabio Paratici on January 20, 2023, the Club made urgent inquiries to FIFA.
“FIFA responded to us this afternoon in writing by notifying us today, Wednesday 29 March 2023, that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has made the decision to extend the FIGC sanction to the entire world.
‘This committee deliberation has been taken without prior notice to any of the parties involved. We are urgently seeking further clarification from FIFA on the details of the extension and its variation of the FIGC sanction.
“We would like to make it clear that when Fabio conducted the interview on the Club’s channels yesterday, neither he nor the Club had any indication that this decision was taken by FIFA, based on the fact that the FIGC sanction was taken on January 20, 2023 and remains subject to an Appeal on April 19, 2023.’