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Former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has been slapped with a two-year ban from Italian football after an investigation into the finances of Serie A giants Juventus, where he served as the Chief Executive Officer.
Juventus found themselves in the news when it was revealed that the members of the first-team squad were paid off the books during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (CONSOB), an Italian government authority responsible for regulating the Italian security market, had discovered that several players who signed agreements to reduce their salaries to help the club through the pandemic were allegedly given that money via back channels.
This meant that the club not only falsified their financial statements but that they, along with the players, did not pay the required taxes. With Juventus being a publicly traded company, this meant that the club committed financial fraud.
Besides Arrivabene, Fabio Paratici and Federico Cherubini (former Juventus sporting directors), Andrea Agnelli (ex-Juventus Chairman) and Pavel Nedved (former Juventus vice chairman of the board of directors) have also been handed suspensions.
The 36-time Italian champions have also been hit with a 15-point deduction.
A look back at Maurizio Arrivabene's time with Ferrari
Having risen to senior management at Scuderia Ferrari’s long-time partner Philip Morris, Maurizio Arrivabene was named the Formula 1 side's team principal in November 2014, replacing Marco Mattiacci, who had lasted just six months.
When Arrivabene was named as the team's boss, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne spoke highly of his compatriot. He said:
"We need a person with a thorough understanding not just of Ferrari, but also of the governance mechanisms and requirements of the sport."
However, the 65-year-old's stint in red was an uninspiring one and failed to change the side's fortunes.
In his three years with the Prancing Horse, Arrivabene could not end the team's title drought that dates back to 2008. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were too dominant for the Italian outfit, though Sebastian Vettel came close when he finished as runner-up to Hamilton in 2018.
In all, he oversaw 81 races with the Scuderia, during which the team registered 14 victories, took 71 podiums and 12 pole positions. He was relieved of his duties at the end of the 2018 season and was soon replaced by Mattia Binotto.
