The entire Juventus board of directors have resigned.
The collective resignation comes after Juventus’ financial statements received scrutiny from prosecutors and Italian market regulator Consob in recent months for alleged false accounting and market manipulation. The company had denied any wrongdoing.
Juventus said its directors had discussed the issue at a meeting on Monday and concluded it would be best addressed by a new board, given “the relevance of the pending legal and technical/accounting matters.”
It added it would have to restate its financial statements for the fiscal year ending in June 2022.
The company, which is controlled by the Agnelli family’s holding company Exor, said it had asked CEO Maurizio Arrivabene to maintain his position and had appointed Maurizio Scanavino as general manager.
Juventus said it had called a shareholder meeting on Jan. 18 to appoint a new board.
Andrea Agnelli, who has chaired Juventus since 2010, will not seek a reappointment, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
In a letter to Juventus staff seen by Reuters, Andrea Agnelli described the company situation as “delicate.”
“When the team is not cohesive it becomes vulnerable and that can be fatal,” he wrote.
“This is when you need to keep calm and contain damages: the company is going through a delicate phase and we’re no longer cohesive. Better to quit all together, giving the chance to a new team to turn the game around.” (Standard)