Juventus president Andrea Agnelli’s one-year ban lifted

Bengaluru, December 20: Juventus president Andrea Agnelli saw his one-year ban lifted for a ticket sales scandals just three months after the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) had decided to penalise the personnel and the club.

Agnelli was restricted for one year by the Italian football organization in September for his part in pitching tickets to violent "ultra" fans that stimulated scalping.

It is understood that Agnelli knowingly approved to offer season passes and different tickets to them. He also reportedly met with Rocco Dominello, an ultra fan connected to the Calabrian crime mob who has since been condemned to almost eight years in jail for scalping.

However, the Juventus president denied any wrongdoing during the prosecution and claimed that he only met the criminal in a gathering and did not know it could lead to all this drama.

Agnelli, who is also a leader of the European Club Association (ECA) and an individual from UEFA's official board, was at first suspended for one year in September for the allegation but now the FIGC committee decided to end his ban permanently.

The FIGC, meanwhile, increased the fine of Juve from 300,000 to 600,000 euros ($353,670 to 707,340) and Agnelli's own fine from 20,000 to 100,000 euros. Juventus were likewise also ordered to close half their stadium for a Serie A match at home to Genoa on January 22.

Apart from Agnelli, three different Juventus authorities were additionally restrained for a year and fined 20,000 euros by the FIGC. But to an appeal to the FIGC government, two of the three authorities had their bans lifted but the third, Francesco Calvo's ban was not lifted.

The 42-year-old Agnelli's family has been running Juventus for a century and he took up Presidency in 2010.