MILAN, April 12 (Reuters) – Italy’s football association
(FIGC) has finished an investigation into Juventus over alleged
irregularities in their payments to players, the Serie A club
said on Wednesday.

Juventus, who have already been hit with a 15-point Serie A
deduction this season in a separate case over players’
transfers, could face further sporting penalties if found
guilty.

FIGC prosecutors allege that Italy’s most successful team
agreed to pay players back most of their COVID-19 related wage
cuts without properly accounting for it.

Juventus will now have access to the FIGC
prosecutor’s documents and have 15 days to file their own
documents or request to be interviewed.

Prosecutors will then decide whether the club should face a
sports tribunal.

Juventus said in a statement they had “correctly applied the
relevant international accounting standards”.

The club could face penalties including a further points
deduction. It is not clear if any potential new penalty would
affect the club in current Serie A season or the next one.

In January they were docked 15 points for the current season
by an Italian soccer court investigating the club’s transfer
dealings and finances.

The court also imposed bans on a number of the club’s
officials, preventing them from holding office in Italian
soccer.

Juventus have appealed against that ruling to Italy’s Sports
Guarantee Board.

Inquiries by sport authorities were triggered by
investigations by criminal prosecutors in Turin, where the club
is based, in a case regarding alleged false accounting.

A criminal court hearing to decide whether to order a trial
for former chairman Andrea Agnelli, 11 other people and the club
itself started last month.

Juventus have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting is
in line with industry standards,
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Elvira Pollina, editing by
Gavin Jones and Toby Davis)