“You said we’ve expanded” – Corriere.it

Of the black and white sports management “heralding losses”, Andrea Agnelli spoke with John ElkannCEO of Exor, majority shareholder of Juve (not investigated): «The issue here – says the president in the phone call of 6 September 2021 – and let’s go back to the genesis, to the history of the situation: we have always taken risks and the advice is always been informed that they were taken. And corrective measures have always been found along the way». To which Elkann replies: «(…) Yes, but as you remember, you said that in the end there was, on the part of the sports management, (…) they expanded. There are a whole series of operations that they have done ». Agnelli takes up the concept expressed by his cousin: «(…) Exactly, making excessive use of the capital gains tool: if the market collapses, the market collapses! This is a fact”. On the sidelines of the conversation – note the soldiers of the economic and financial police unit of the Guardia di Finanza – Elkann reports that he had an interview with Massimiliano Allegri. Which, in the opinion of Exor’s number one, he must be careful “not to say that the policies that have been made in recent years were senseless, a lot of money has been spent on players who don’t know (…)” . To then continue: «And then what were the prerogatives of the market were the prerogatives of the markets at that time. Now we need to manage things in the best possible way (…) so much at the end of what the others have done before, who cares». Agnelli concludes: «Yes, yes I agree, I agree perfectly».

The 544 pages of the prosecutors

The 544 pages of the request for precautionary measures made by the prosecutors (and rejected by the investigating judge), including wiretaps, documents, emails, resemble the summary of the investigation into Juve’s accounts. And they seem to outline a scenario in which certain things are better not to be done in the light of the sun. Including the definition of some negotiations, as emerges from another intercepted call, between Agnelli and Luca Percassi, CEO of Atalanta (not investigated): “On a number of elements that we have, I have to stand still at the moment – says the president – because we have Consob, the Guardia di Finanza and everything that is watching us (…) over the last two years. So I would like to close this stuff here and then go back to sorting out the various situations, aware of what we have». With the criminal investigation still secret, the financiers explain, Agnelli should report to colleagues in the special unit of the Currency Police, which works with the supervisory authority.

The “open handset” conversation

On one occasion, the investigators are helped by luck, because at the end of a phone call, the call remains active, delivering an “open handset conversation”. First noises are picked up, then the voices of the heads of the finance area, Stefano Bertola and Stefano Cerrato, with the head of the legal office, Cesare Gabasio. All three speak of the absence of documentation regarding the sales object of the request made by Consob and, by the way, Gabasio introduces the speech on Pjanic: «They made an exchange and I’ll tell you the whole story? It’s better that there wasn’t that correspondence». Bertola agrees: «No, that correspondence there better not». Gabasio continues: «Even with the other, Genoa of course, right? They are the ones they are looking for, aren’t they?’ After that, Cerrato talks about CR7: «
And thanks again that Ronaldo didn’t make dangerous pizzini». Bertola’s exclamation: «Moggi, Moggi! But you did magic”. Gabasio closes: «But at the time Giraudo didn’t do these things here».

Anxiety for Consob

The nightmare, we are on 14 September 2021, is the return of Consob inspection staff to the Juve headquarters. To which, Cerrato explains: «If they left, I’d be a little more serene about the capital increase process too, right? Because then they go to dig into everyone’s emails eh. I mean, if, if, if they get caught…” Shortly afterwards, he reiterates: «Tomorrow I wanted to go in a somewhat persuasive and mafia-like way, try to feel a little bit like throw away (…) because in any case in the capital increase operation, being in arrears of one of their some form of, verification and so on, it’s not nice eh».

Partnership clubs

From the interceptions, according to the investigators, “partnerships” with third-party companies emerge, with the consequent “opacity of debt/credit relationships”, as well as the risk of “endangering the loyalty of the sporting competition”. The deed mentions Sampdoria, Atalanta, Sassuolo, Empoli and Udinese, as well as teams from the lower and foreign leagues. Illuminating a phone call between the then head of the technical area Fabio Paratici and the dg of Pisa, Giovanni Corrado (not investigated), speaking of Lucca, a young striker: «I’ve always done it, I’ve done it with Caldara (.. .) you have to let me do the operation! Trust me, I’ll do the operation for Pisa too! You just have to give me the lines, I’ll fix the rest. I’ve done it for Genoa all my life, I’ve done it for Atalanta all my life, I’ve done it for Sassuolo all my life (…) When I have the parameters, I’ll fix everything afterwards (… )». There are also unmentionable things, such as the Romero affair, between Atalanta and Tottenham, where Paratici had moved, to which Percassi says: «I will never be able to get that letter out there, because we have to go to court, it turns out that I made the false balance sheet”.