Italy finance police search Juventus offices in player trading probe

Soccer Football – Serie A – Juventus v Parma – Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy – January 19, 2020 General view of the corner flag inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo

ROME, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Italian finance police have searched the offices of Serie A club Juventus in Turin and Milan, seeking documents relating to player trading between 2019 and 2021, a prosecutor said.

Juventus (JUVE.MI), which is Italy’s most successful club with 36 league titles, is listed on Milan’s stock exchange and its largest shareholder is Exor (EXOR.MI).

Turin prosecutor Anna Maria Loreto said in a statement released late on Friday that the investigation is looking into whether senior managers at Juventus gave false communications to investors and issued invoices for non-existent transactions.

“Several transfer operations of professional players and the services rendered by some agents involved in the related intermediation are under consideration,” Loreto said.

Juventus and Exor had no immediate comment when asked by Reuters about the investigation.

In September, Juventus said that Italian market regulator CONSOB was looking into revenue received from player trading.

Italy’s Federal Prosecutor last month opened an investigation into a number of soccer player transfers in Serie A.

Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Alexander Smith

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