The impending doom of Juventus will be revealed on Tuesday when the shareholders of Italy's premier football club convene to accept the latest ruinous financial report, following the mass boardroom exodus of just last month.
Juve's entire board quit as an investigation by prosecutors in Turin into allegations of false accounting and irregularities in the transfer and loans of players led to 15 people and the club being charged with a variety of offenses.
On Tuesday, revised losses for the 2021/22 season of 239.3 million euros ($255 million) will be ratified, the fifth straight set of annual accounts in the red.
Juve are listed on the Italian stock market and in September announced record losses of 254 million euros, a figure revised downwards after losses for 2020/21 were revised upward from 209 million euros to 226 million euros.
Those accounts were modified following the findings of the stock exchange regulator CONSOB as well as auditors and prosecutors.
Tuesday's meeting had been scheduled for Nov. 23 but was pushed back just over a week before the board announced its decision to step down.
Chairperson Andrea Agnelli was among those to resign, bringing to an end a 12-year reign that brought a host of trophies and for a period reestablished Juventus as one of Europe's best teams.
However, Juve's run of nine straight league titles came to an end in 2021 and their performances on the continent plummeted after they spent over 100 million euros to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid three years before.
Ronaldo's arrival coincided with an increase in salary costs which combined with the COVID-19 pandemic led to two capital increases worth 700 million euros from parent company Exor, controlled by the powerful Agnelli family.
In documents shared, Juve are accused of artificially inflating transfer values and also lying to the stock market when announcing at the height of the pandemic that players would help the club save 90 million euros by giving up their salaries for March, April, May and June 2020.
Prosecutors say the club privately assured players they would only have to give up one month's salary, saving just 22 million euros.
Trial date looms
Shareholders are set to meet again on Jan. 18 to appoint the new board, which is to be led by Gianluca Ferrero, a Turin-born former head of coffee brand Lavazza who is trusted by Exor Chairperson John Elkann – Andrea Agnelli's cousin.
A preliminary court hearing next month will decide whether those charged by prosecutors will be defendants in a trial, which would provide a troublesome backdrop to the second half of what has already been a complicated season for Juventus.
The Turin giants were knocked out of the Champions League after finishing the group stage with just 3 points and trail Serie A leaders Napoli by 10 points.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri had been under fire following an appalling start to the campaign but a run of six league wins in the month leading up to the World Cup dragged Juve to third in Serie A.
The chaos elsewhere hasn't had a direct impact on Allegri, who is still in place alongside sporting director Federico Cherubini.
For Agnelli however, the season is becoming something of a nightmare, with Juve's finances also under investigation by UEFA.
European football's governing body also appears to be winning the battle against the remaining proponents of the aborted Super League, which included Agnelli.
The European Court of Justice's top legal adviser said earlier this month that UEFA and the global body FIFA had acted within the law when they threatened to expel clubs or players who joined the closed breakaway league.
As Juventus chairperson Agnelli and his counterparts at Barcelona and reigning European champions Real Madrid were hanging on to the Super League idea despite its collapse just 48 hours after its announcement in 2021 following fan outrage.
The Super League's holding company's claim that UEFA abused its position in the market to squeeze out fair competition was rejected by Advocate General Athanasios Rantos. A definitive ruling is expected to be made official by the European Court of Justice early next year.