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Juventus boss Andrea Agnelli fires a parting shot at the final press conference, stating English football will attract ALL the best European talent and warning of ‘inexorable decline’ in the face of the ‘dominant Premier League’
- Controversial Juventus president dealt one last blow to the Premier League
- Andrea Agnelli said goodbye on Wednesday after leaving work.
- He believes that, without reform, the Premier League will cause imminent damage
- Agnelli will go on trial over false accounting accusations at the Serie A club
Outgoing Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has urged European football to push for change as the Italian fears the Premier League will take away all of Europe’s stars, “marginalizing” surrounding competitions.
Agnelli, who could face trial on charges of false accounting at Juventus, was one of the architects of the failed attempt to establish the breakaway European Super League in 2021.
“I believed and still believe that European football needs structural reforms to address the future,” Agnelli said as he left office on Wednesday.
Outgoing Juventus boss Andrea Agnelli had some strong opinions in his latest press conference.
“Otherwise, we are heading towards an inexorable decline of football in favor of a dominant league, the Premier League, which in a few years will attract all the European talent and marginalize the rest.”
The controversial Italian has led Juventus since 2010 but resigned after Turin prosecutors requested that Agnelli, 11 other people and the club stand trial on charges of false accounting.
Juventus, the most successful club in Italian soccer history, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday before sports authorities on his transfer transactions, which could overturn an earlier ruling that cleared him of wrongdoing.
Agnelli believes the Premier League will imminently cause “inexorable decline” across Europe
The Serie A giant is expected to face just one fine if found guilty in that case. However, football authorities are now investigating all the documents collected by the attorneys general in Turin, raising the risk of new cases with potentially stiffer penalties.
Agnelli is part of the family that founded the carmaker Fiat, now part of the Stellantis group, which owned Juventus for a century.
Gianluca Ferrero, an accountant very close to Elkann, the most important business figure in the Agnelli family, was appointed this Wednesday as the new president of Juventus.
The Italian polarizer was one of the main architects of the failed European Super League of 21
The outgoing manager gave him a black and white Juventus shirt, with Ferrero’s name and number one on the back.
The new president will head a reduced five-member board that will have to immediately address the club’s legal problems, namely restore the club’s financial fortunes, hit by rising costs related to player salaries and the coronavirus pandemic.
Juventus posted a loss of 238 million euros ($257 million) in the year ending last June.
Agnelli was criticized for his part and was an unpopular figure in England and some parts of Italy.