Why were Juventus relegated? All you need to know about the Calciopoli scandal

14 years ago today, Juventus were relegated to Serie B. The Juventus Serie B news became a reality, not because of their on-field performances, but their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal. On July 14 2006, Juventus was relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history after it became one of the clubs that was linked to the Calciopoli scandal.

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Why were Juventus relegated? The Juventus relegation story

The Calciopoli scandal broke out ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In the Calciopoli scandal, several of the biggest Serie A clubs, such as AC Milan, Inter Milan and Fiorentina were alleged to have been involved as well. However, it was Juventus that found itself at the centre of the Calciopoli scandal. During the investigations, Juventus managing director Luciano Maggi was found guilty of having an exclusive relationship with referee designations, which allowed the director to exert his influence while handpicking referees for the matches. The Juventus club director was also accused of exerting his influence over players and other clubs. The Calciopoli scandal was first discovered in May 2006, when several telephone conversations between team managers and referee organizations that took place during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons were intercepted. Calciopoli scandal found Lazio, AC Milan and Fiorentina guilty as well, while Inter Milan were acquitted. Clubs other than Juventus were punished by the way of home games behind closed doors, points deductions and fines.

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Juventus were given a massive punishment for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal, and that is why Juventus were relegated. The news of the Juventus relegation to Serie B was also topped off with a 9 point deduction. In addition to the Juventus Serie B relegation, the club was also stripped off their 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles. After the news of the Juventus relegation was confirmed, the entire board of Juventus resigned as well.

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Due to the Juventus Serie B situation, several players left the club. This included players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram, Gianluca Zambrotta amongst others. However, Juventus legends such as Alessandro Del Piero, Gigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet decided to stay at the club even after the Calciopoli scandal, with Del Piero famously saying "a true gentleman never leaves his lady."

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Juventus built from the ground up after the Calciopoli scandal

Once Juventus were relegated, they didn’t take long to come back up. With fan favourite Didier Deschamps leading the club, the Juventus Serie B journey lasted just a year as the club returned to the top flight. After the Calciopoli scandal, however, the club restricted its entire management team, built a new stadium and renegotiated sponsorship deals to make the Juventus relegation story a thing of the past. 

While the club struggled initially on their return to Serie A, it was another former player Antonio Conte who turned the Old Lady’ fortunes. The Italian led Juventus to their first Serie A title since the Calciopoli scandal title in the  2011/12 season, after which the club has won the league every year since then.

Image Courtesy: AP