Tottenham have concerns that their managing director of football, Fabio Paratici, could face a worldwide ban should a punishment laid down by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) not be overturned on appeal.
Juventus were docked 15 league points last week at the resolution of a long-running investigation into false accounting at the club. Paratici, who joined Spurs in 2021, was among a number of former and current Juventus executives to receive lengthy bans, after a hearing at the federal court of appeal.
Currently his 30-month ban applies only to Italian football. Under Fifa’s regulations, however, a national association can apply to extend a ban outside its own country. Under Article 66 of Fifa’s disciplinary code, the rules state that a ban can be extended if the offense is “serious”, including “in particular but not limited to discrimination, the manipulation of football matches and competitions, misconduct against match officials or forgery and falsification”.
Sources with experience of Fifa’s disciplinary processes have suggested the nature of the plusvalenza (capital gains) scandal, in which players were – according to the prosecutor – traded at artificially inflated values, would be serious enough to meet the Article 66 criteria. Juventus firmly denied all wrongdoing.
The Guardian understands that the FIGC has yet to apply to have the ban extended. On Friday Juventus said they had begun the process of appealing against the court’s decision and there is a possibility that the FIGC will wait for the appeal to be heard before initiating contact with Fifa. The FIGC has been approached for comment. Tottenham said they were not in a position to say anything at this stage.
Alongside Paratici, other Juventus executives to receive punishments from the court included the former club president Andrea Agnelli and former vice-chairman Pavel Nedved. Both men stepped back from their roles at the club last year as the club board resigned en masse as a result of the plusvalenza scandal.