Juventus has announced that they are planning to withdraw from the Super League project, which is still being pursued by Real Madrid and Barcelona. However, the club has denied reports that they were threatened with a European ban by UEFA. The three clubs are currently awaiting a ruling from the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg regarding their legal challenge against UEFA’s monopoly control of European club competitions. Despite reports suggesting that Juventus had already left the Super League, the club clarified that they had contacted the two Spanish clubs to initiate a discussion period about their exit.
The three clubs were the only holdouts after the other nine Italian, Spanish, and English clubs who joined them to launch the breakaway Super League in April 2021 renounced it within weeks of its quick failure. UEFA was a clear winner when the Luxembourg court gave a first, non-binding opinion in the Super League case in December that went against the clubs.
It has been a challenging season for Juventus, with no trophies won, legal cases lost, and mass resignations among the board of directors. The club was also hit with a 10-point deduction in Serie A last month in a false accounting case that dropped them to finish seventh instead of qualifying for the next Champions League. However, even their place in the third-tier Europa Conference League is at risk from a separate UEFA investigation of the false accounting allegations.
Juventus appear to have broken UEFA’s financial fair play rules, which can lead to bans imposed by a UEFA-appointed panel. A final verdict, potentially on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is needed before the Europa Conference League qualifying playoffs round in August. Long-time club president Andrea Agnelli resigned in November in fallout from the case. He had been a UEFA executive committee member and chairman of the influential European Club Association before giving up those positions of power in 2021 to help launch the Super League.