Juventus president gets 1-year ban for selling tickets to scalpers

The Italian FA has banned Juventus president Andrea Agnelli for one year for his role in selling tickets to scalpers.

Agnelli is accused of selling more tickets to ultras than is allowed by the Italian FA, and he has acknowledged that he met with Rocco Dominello, a Juventus ultra with organized crime links who has been sentenced to prison time for ticket scalping. However, Juventus was not implicated as being involved in organized crime in the ruling. Three other Juventus executives also received bans.

The ruling was unpopular with both Juve and Italian FA prosecutor Giuseppe Pecoraro. Juventus says it will file an appeal to clear the club’s name entirely, while Pecoraro says he’ll appeal “because they should’ve received harder punishments.”

Agnelli was recently appointed chairman of the European Club Association and became a UEFA executive committee member. There’s no word yet on whether his ban from Italian soccer will affect those positions. There’s also no word yet on how Juventus will operate without Agnelli over the next year.

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