The sudden resignation of Italian record champions Juventus' entire board, led by chair Andrea Agnelli, on Monday evening in the midst of an ongoing inquiry into the Serie A team's finances caught everyone off guard.
"The board of directors' members, given the centrality and the relevance of the pending legal and technical/accounting matters, considered in the best interest of the Company that Juventus provided itself with a new board of directors to address these matters," a Monday statement read.
"For this purpose, upon proposal of Chairperson Andrea Agnelli and in order to allow the decision on the renewal of the Board to be submitted to the Shareholders' Meeting as soon as possible, all the members of the board of directors present at the meeting declared to forego their office."
Angelli, Vice Chairperson Pavel Nedved and Chief Executive Officer Maurizio Arrivabene also resigned. Maurizio Scanavino was temporarily appointed general manager.
The move comes amid financial difficulties and a public prosecutor's investigations into possible accounting fraud.
"We are dealing with a delicate moment from a club standpoint," Agnelli wrote in an email to employees, as quoted by the ANSA news agency.
Agnelli had led the club since 2010 and was responsible for one of the most successful eras at Juventus.
During that period, the Turin club won nine straight Scudetti, four Italian Cups and two Champions League finals. The club also moved to a new stadium under Andrea Agnelli, whose family has run the club for nearly a century.
In September, Juventus reported a record loss of 254.4 million euros ($263.2 million) for the previous season.
Italian market regulator CONSOB then intervened and the public prosecutor's office is also investigating the club for false accounting in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The company has denied any wrongdoing.
