Juventus
While there were three Italian members of the so-called “Dirty Dozen”, it may well be Juventus who end up suffering most. This is obvious enough, given that Juve president Andrea Agnelli, along with Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez, was a ringleader of this millionaires’ rebellion. Lest Agnelli failed to understand what he might be risking, Italian Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina spelled it out loud and clear in early May. In plain language he told Juventus that either they drop this Super League idea, or they are out of Italian football.
This threatened hard-line is, in some senses, astonishing. The last club that the FIGC want to fight with is Juventus. Over the last decade of Italian decline, Juve have been the single shining light, on and off the field. Since being appointed president in 2010, Agnelli has overseen huge success that has included nine Serie A title wins, two losing Champions League finals and the building of a money-making new stadium in Turin. In that time, too, the club’s annual revenues have gone from approximately €280m in 2013 to an all-time high of €621.5m in 2019.
However, the Super League fiasco represents an unexpected error by Agnelli. As a member of the Turin dynasty that has always controlled both the automoblile giant FIAT (these days called FCA or Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) and Juventus, Agnelli might seem to be untouchable. Yet this Super League fiasco comes at an unusually negative moment in his administration of Italy’s most famous club. For a start, Juve’s nine-year Serie A winning run has come to end. They had to be content with “only” winning the Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup this season, and barely snuck into the Champions League places, only doing so on the final day of the campaign.
Then there is the Ronaldo question. The Portuguese forward was bought in from Real Madrid in a €350m operation, essentially to deliver the Champions League – a gamble that has not worked. Does that explain why Juve’s debts currently stand at €385m?
In such a context, Agnelli argues that he badly needs the increased revenues of the Super League. Yet, the apparent failure of this last throw of the dice has clearly weakened his position, both at Juventus and inside Italian football.