FORMER Spurs director of football Fabio Paratici has been handed an 18-month suspended jail sentence in a plea bargain deal with Italian prosecutors.
Paratici, 53, resigned from his Tottenham role in April 2023 after losing his appeal against a 30-month ban for his part in the Juventus “Plusvalenza” scandal.
The ex-Tottenham transfer guru and other senior Juve directors, including former Czech superstar Pavel Nedved, were found to have been part of an orchestrated scheme to mislead Serie A chiefs.
Juventus carried out a transfer scam over three seasons by inflating “official” transfer fees in dealings with other Serie A clubs to create millions of pounds in “capital gains” for tax purposes.
The scheme, orchestrated by Paratici, allowed Juve to spend more in the transfer market than would have been allowed under Financial Fair Play regulations.
Italian chiefs handed Paratici a 30-month ban which was completed in the summer and there had been rumours of a potential return to Tottenham after his pivotal role in the recruitment of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski before he was forced to step down.
But the departure of Daniel Levy, who formed a close bond with Paratici, appeared to have closed that door even before the latest news.
Prosecutors had charged eight former directors at the Turin club with various allegations of stock market manipulation, obstruction and false accounting.
While the agreements – seven of the directors were punished with one, Maurizio Arrivabene, cleared – saw the sentences confirmed, there was no actual admission of guilt under Italian law.
Revised rules, agreed by all the clubs in 2023, stated that nobody convicted of offences including “corruption, fraud and tax evasion” could be appointed to the board of a Premier League club.
It is unclear if the agreement without a guilty plea would prevent Paratici resurfacing at a Prem club in the future.
Former Juve President Andrea Agnelli accepted a 20-month suspended sentence, with Nedved signing up for a suspended 14-month term.
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