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☆ Is Karim Benzema about to be the first of many soccer superstars to join Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —French soccer player Karim Benzema has played his last game for Real Madrid and may soon be joining the great Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia. Saudi’s state-run Ekhbariya news on Sunday reported that Benzema and the Saudi Al Ittihad club had reached an agreement on a two-season contract. The Frenchman could be the first of many established star names to join Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League next season. In an interview with the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo last week said that he was happy in Saudi Arabia and encouraged other players to join him. According to Saudi state-owned media, Ronaldo will earn an estimated $200 million a year, making him the world’s highest-paid soccer player.

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"Our commitment to Juventus is unchanged and no meetings have taken place," a spokesperson for Exor said when asked to comment by Reuters on Friday. Juventus also faces potential new penalties, including further points deductions, in a separate case over alleged irregularities in payments to players. The Agnelli family has owned the club, which it listed in 2001, almost uninterrupted since 1923. New potential co-investors could include Middle Eastern or Asian sovereign wealth funds, or U.S. funds or family offices, two sources said. Juventus ranked 11th in Deloitte's European Money League published in January, based on its annual revenue of 400 million euros in 2021/22.

☆ Champions League semifinal: AC Milan faces Inter Milan in derby clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

AC Milan and Inter Milan are set to face each other in the semifinal of Europe’s most prestigious competition and the stakes couldn’t be much higher. “I prayed to God to give me the joy of Inter winning, and hopefully He will agree,” Enrico Vanzini told Reuters. Both sides last met in the Champions League semifinals in 2003. “We are talking about Champions League, we have not had ups and downs but an outstanding run,” Pioli told reporters Tuesday. “We want to try to overcome this last step before winning a Champions League final, something that hasn’t happened to all of us.

☆ Italy sports authority scraps 15-point penalty for Juventus, orders new trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, April 20 (Reuters) - Italy's top sports body on Thursday cancelled a decision to dock Serie A club Juventus (JUVE.MI) 15 points in a case centered on the club's transfer dealings, ordering soccer authorities to hold another hearing. The ruling of Italy's Sports Guarantee Board came after Juventus, the most successful soccer club in Italy, appealed a sentence Italy's soccer court issued in January as it looked at the way the club and a number of other teams dealt with player exchange deals. The soccer court had also imposed bans from holding office in Italian soccer on 11 past and present Juventus directors, including former Chairman Andrea Agnelli, a prominent member of the family controlling Juventus through their investment company Exor (EXOR.AS). Partially accepting the Juventus appeal, the Sports Guarantee Board did not clear the club of wrongdoing. It instead ruled that a soccer court made up of different judges should now hold new proceedings against Juventus and the directors and come up with more appropriate punishment.

☆ Juventus await decision on appeal against 15-point deduction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Italy's Sports Guarantee Board held a hearing earlier on Wednesday and a decision was expected either later on Wednesday or on Thursday. Juventus, the most successful soccer club in Italy, has appealed a sentence that Italy's soccer court issued in January following an investigation into the way the club and a number of other teams dealt with player exchange deals. As part of the January's sentence, which left Juventus outside the qualifying spots for lucrative European competitions, the court also imposed bans from holding office in Italian soccer on 11 past and present club directors. Juventus's lawyer Maurizio Bellacosa said January's sentence was "full of mistakes" and that it had to be cancelled. Reporting by Angelo Amante and Giulio Piovaccari Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Binance, world's top crypto exchange, at the center of US investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Tom Wilson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.

☆ Juve lack attacking options for Inter clash, says Allegri
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 18 (Reuters) - Juventus could be without Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa for Sunday's Serie A match at Inter Milan as the Turin club battles a growing injury list, manager Massimiliano Allegri said. Both have struggled with injuries this season and Allegri said on Saturday they could join Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro, Arkadiusz Milik and Paul Pogba as injury absentees. Moise Kean is also suspended after he was sent off in their 1-0 loss against AS Roma earlier this month. We don’t have options up front without Kean and Milik, we have (Matias) Soule but only (Dusan) Vlahovic as a starting striker," Allegri said. "It’s important and difficult in Milan because six-pointers are always difficult to play," Allegri added.

☆ Debt is poor fix for Italian soccer’s malaise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Top soccer league Serie A needs cash to revamp its ailing media rights business. The division, which counts Lautaro Martínez and Paulo Dybala among its few world-class champions, made revenue of 2.5 billion euros in the 2020-2021 football season, nearly half the star-studded Premier League’s 5.5 billion euros, Deloitte data shows. Its broadcasting revenue has dropped more than 20% to about 1.1 billion euros since 2018, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters Breakingviews. Club owners would be better off entrusting independent executives to look after media rights. The Deutsche Fussball Liga, which runs Germany’s football league, is due to discuss the media rights sale at a meeting on Feb. 9.

☆ Exclusive: JPMorgan looking to finance Italy's Serie A for up to 1 bln euros - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The sources said the 20 clubs which comprise Serie A were informed of the interest by the U.S. bank at a closed-door meeting of their top executives on Thursday. Serie A has been looking at options to extract more money from its media rights, which account for roughly half the revenues of its clubs. Like other European soccer leagues, Serie A lags behind England's Premier League in terms of income and is looking at ways to revive its global appeal. Back in 2021 JPMorgan had offered to support soccer clubs looking to launch a breakaway European Super League, a plan which collapsed due to a storm of protest from fans and politicians. The sources said the Serie A clubs will assess in the coming weeks how to proceed in relation to the interest expressed by both the funds and JPMorgan.

☆ Exclusive: JPMorgan looking to finance Italy's Serie A for up to 1 bln euros -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The sources said the 20 clubs that comprise Serie A were informed of the interest by the U.S. bank at a closed-door meeting of their top executives on Thursday. Serie A has been looking at options to extract more money from its media rights, which account for roughly half the revenues of its clubs. Like other European soccer leagues, Serie A lags England's Premier League in terms of income and is looking at ways to revive its global appeal. The sources said Serie A clubs learnt on Thursday that Apollo Global Management (APO.N) had also come forward, without providing further details. Prior to that meeting, clubs are due to discuss in mid-February the sale process of the media rights, which is expected to start later this year.

☆ Juventus shares tumble after 15-point penalty imposed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Shares in Juventus (JUVE.MI) tumbled some 10% on Monday after Italian soccer authorities docked the club 15 points for its transfer dealings, in a blow to its reputation and short-term sporting prospects. Juventus, who have won the Italian league more times than any other club, are now 9th in the Serie A standings and face an uphill struggle to qualify for lucrative European competition. Juventus drew 3-3 with Atalanta on Sunday night in their home city of Turin in their first game since the punishment was announced late on Friday. By 0907 GMT, shares are down 8.5%, underperforming a 0.2% drop in Italy's all-share index (.FTITLMS) and on track for their worst day since April 2021. Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Keith Weir Editing by Toby Chopra, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Juventus handed 15-point deduction for transfer deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

With 20 games left to play in this season, Juve were third in Serie A, 10 points adrift of leaders Napoli. The points deduction would push them down into mid-table, outside the spots for European competition. The ruling is tougher than a nine-point deduction a soccer prosecutor had requested earlier on Friday during a hearing looking at the way Juventus, Italy's most successful club, and a number of other teams dealt with player exchange deals. The soccer court also ruled that former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli be banned from holding office in Italian soccer for 24 months. It also decided on a 30-month ban for Juve's former sports director, Fabio Paratici, now managing director of football at England's Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

☆ Italy's Juventus docked 15 points for transfer deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Giulio Piovaccari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

With 20 games left to play this season, Juve were third in Serie A with 37 points, 10 behind leaders Napoli. In a late night statement, the court also imposed bans from holding office in Italian soccer on 11 past and present Juventus directors. Juventus said it would appeal to the country's Sport Guarantee Board once the reasons for the ruling were published. CASE REOPENEDThe ruling reversed a previous decision in April to clear Juventus, 10 other clubs and their executives of wrongdoing. Public prosecutors in Turin have requested Andrea Agnelli, 11 other people and the club itself to stand trial over allegations of false accounting.

☆ Agnelli warns of Premier League dominance as he quits Juventus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Giulio Piovaccari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SummarySummary Companies Agnelli warns Premier League will marginalise rivalsStepping down from Juventus and two other board rolesNew Juventus board faces legal battle over accountsTURIN, Italy, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Outgoing Juventus <JUVE.MI> Chairman Andrea Agnelli, who could face trial over the club's accounting, signed off on Wednesday with a plea for reform of European soccer to counteract the power of the English Premier League. As well as leaving Juventus, Agnelli also said he would step down from his board roles at carmaker Stellantis (STLA.MI) and Exor (EXOR.AS), the Agnelli family holding company which controls the football club. Prosecutors in Turin have requested that Agnelli, 11 other people and the club stand trial over allegations of false accounting. "I believed and still believe that European soccer needs structural reforms to tackle the future," he said. Andrea Agnelli retains his role as board member at Giovanni Agnelli B.V., Exor's controlling shareholder, which groups all descendants of Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli.

☆ Italian soccer great Gianluca Vialli dies at 58
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Gianluca Vialli, the former Italian soccer forward who helped Sampdoria and Juventus win Serie A and European trophies before becoming player-coach at Chelsea, has died. Vialli and Mancini also helped Sampdoria reach the 1992 European Cup final, which it lost to Barcelona at Wembley Stadium. Mihajlović also played with Mancini at Sampdoria after Vialli left the club for Juventus. Vialli won another Serie A title at Juventus and also raised the Champions League and UEFA Cup trophies with the Bianconeri. He ended his playing career while also managing Chelsea, leading the London club to FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup titles.

☆ The private-equity firm behind Italian soccer champs AC Milan is quietly building a financial services powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

RedBird Capital is best known as the private-equity owner of soccer club AC Milan. But the sports dealmaker is quietly building a financial services arm to rival its flashier bets. RedBird Capital is one of the buzziest names in dealmaking when it comes to sports and Hollywood. In August, the New York City-based private equity firm bought soccer club AC Milan for $1.2 billion. The firm's philosophies for financial services and sports are one and the same: taking advantage of fragmented environments with firms that have long-term recurring cash flow.

☆ Juventus has no requirement of additional capital, says Exor's Elkann
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Daniel Wiessner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Serie A soccer club Juventus (JUVE.MI) does not need a fresh capital injection, the chief executive of controlling shareholder Exor (EXOR.AS) said on Wednesday. Exor on Tuesday proposed accountant Gianluca Ferrero as the new chairman of Juventus, marking the end of the long reign of Andrea Agnelli as the Italian soccer club tries to get to grips with its financial and legal troubles. "Juventus has no requirement of capital," Exor CEO John Elkann told analysts and investors at a business presentation of the holding company of Italy's Agnelli family. "Football is a very valuable sector, the ingredients that Juventus has and the leadership ahead are going to make the differences," Elkann said, adding Exor was very encouraged by the future of the club. Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Juventus drama calls for an Exor exit strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Chairman Andrea Agnelli and the other directors resigned en masse on Monday amid intense legal and regulatory scrutiny of the Italian soccer club’s accounts. Prosecutors in the club’s Turin home region, and Italian market regulator Consob, queried how Juventus accounted for its players’ pay. Soccer clubs are in high demand, with Chelsea’s sale earlier this year attracting a feeding frenzy among would-be owners. CONTEXT NEWSJuventus FC Chairman Andrea Agnelli resigned on Nov. 28 along with the Italian soccer club’s entire board, citing pending legal and accounting matters. Prosecutors and Italian market regulator Consob have been scrutinising the club for possible false accounting and market manipulation.

☆ Juventus: Entire soccer club board of directors resigns over charges of false accounting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Valentina Di Donato | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The entire board of directors of Juventus, including the club’s President Andrea Agnelli and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene, has resigned over charges of false accounting, a statement from the Italian soccer club said Monday. The Serie A team’s financial statements underwent scrutiny by prosecutors and Italian market regulator Consob in recent months for alleged false accounting and market manipulation. Upon the proposal of Agnelli, the board agreed that it was in the best interest of the club for a new board to take over at Juventus. In its final meeting, the board appointed Maurizio Scanavino as General Manager until a new board of directors will be confirmed in a meeting scheduled for January 18. Juve is third in Serie A – 10 points behind leader Napoli – but failed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.

Deals for European football clubs this year, beginning with the sanctions-driven sale of Chelsea Football Club by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in May, have fetched top dollar. Those complaints were aired again this month by superstar player Cristiano Ronaldo, who parted ways with Manchester United for the second time. Spokespeople for the six members of the Glazer family that are major Manchester United shareholders could not be reached for comment. More deals are in the works, with Manchester United arch rival Liverpool Football Club also exploring a sale. In August, Elon Musk tweeted: "I'm buying Manchester United ur welcome" only to then clarify he meant it as a joke.

☆ How Gregg Lemkau went from Goldman CEO contender to building a hybrid investment bank catering to billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Gregg Lemkau was in the running for CEO before he left Goldman Sachs in 2020. Now he runs Michael Dell's investment firm, which is merging with billionaire advisory BDT. When Gregg Lemkau left Goldman Sachs in late 2020 to run Michael Dell's investment firm, many within and outside the bank were surprised. Cardinale, who had left Goldman a decade ago to start his own investment firm, knew it had to be a massive opportunity to pull away Lemkau. Oldest sibling Kristin runs JPMorgan's US wealth management business and Lemkau's younger brother Chip is a managing director at Goldman Sachs in private wealth management.

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