Twenty three Juventus players during investigated spell could face suspension

Juventus' punishment after capital gains violations could stretch to the players who played for them during that time, potentially leading to suspensions for 23 players.

Last week Italian football was sent into shock by the fact that Serie A giants Juve had been handed a 15 point deduction, after an investigation into their finances.

Prosecutors had initially asked for a nine point deduction but a harsher punishment was handed down instead, dropping them from third in Serie A down to 10th.

It all but ended their chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League through the league, and they'll have to win the Europa League, having dropped down, in order to qualify.

The club could yet have their points returned to them if they are successful with an appeal, after the investigation had been reopened following further evidence being found.

Tottenham Hotspur could yet feel the pain of seeing director of football Fabio Paratici banned for two and a half years, after he was suspended for 30 months, and must wait to see if it goes beyond Italy.

And Antonio Conte's club could be hit again, with 23 players who turned out for the Old Lady all potentially having to face bans for their part.

According to Italian journalist Paolo Ziliani, if the players are found to have accepted falsely lower wages then they could be hit with a 30+ day suspension, even if they're no longer at the Turin club.

That could include Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, whilst Al Nassr could even find themselves without Cristiano Ronaldo for a time.

A list of all the players who could be banned. Image: Twitter

Zialini said that as part of the investigation, "All members involved were questioned and admitted the circumstances.

"Two players, Matthijs de Ligt and Mattia De Sciglio , provided the magistrates with a copy of the Whatsapp chat in which Giorgio Chiellini explained the scam to everyone, suggesting not to mention it to journalists."

Ronaldo could be amongst those players, having played for the club from 2018 until 2020, and according to previous reports he could even sue the club.

Those reports claimed that they actually owed the 37-year-old nearly £20 million, based on a document that they'd signed but not sent to him.

Ronaldo could be handed a suspension. Image: Alamy

Ronaldo will probably be happier to miss games for his new Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr than he would have been if he'd moved to a big European club.

A new report says that the five time Ballon d'Or winner split from agent Jorge Mendes, after telling the agent to get him a move to Chelsea or Bayern Munich, or he'd sack Mendes.

Juventus may not be the last Italian club to be hit by an investigation, with prosecutors having asked for one to be opened into Serie A league leaders Napoli.

That's partially to do with the transfer of signing Victor Osimhen and potential false inflating of the Nigerian striker's transfer fee, when he joined from Lille.