If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game.
Considered by many the mastermind behind the breakaway Super League that is dividing soccer, Andrea Agnelli is gaining a reputation for his boardroom backstabbing.
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If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game.
The breakaway announcement came a day before a UEFA executive committee meeting was to decide on revisions to the Champions League proposed by the European Club Association guided by Agnelli, who is also the Juventus president.
As some European soccer insiders have put it, Agnelli represents the tougher, more calculating side of a family that made its fortune running Fiat Automobiles — now Stellantis following mergers with Chrysler and Peugeot.
But toughness was just what Juventus needed when Andrea Agnelli was named club president 11 years ago when he was only 34.
Indeed, under Andrea Agnelli’s watch, Juventus has become the only major Italian club to open a new stadium and he was also the driving force behind bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Turin three years ago.
This season has been a struggle for Juventus, with the team in fourth place in Serie A and at risk of missing out on next season’s Champions League.
“We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity.”
“A snake,” was the way an angry UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin labeled Agnelli on Monday. “I have never seen a person lie so many times and so persistently as he did.”
FILE - In this Italy's Andrea Agnelli, chairman of the European Club Association, ECA, speaks to the media, during a press conference after the general assembly of the European Club Association, ECA, in Geneva, Switzerland. If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game. (Salvatore Di NolfiKeystone via AP, File )
The breakaway announcement came a day before a UEFA executive committee meeting was to decide on revisions to the Champions League proposed by the European Club Association guided by Agnelli, who is also the Juventus president.
But Agnelli slithered away with 11 other clubs to announce the Super League and then resigned from the ECA.
“He is probably the biggest disappointment of all,” Čeferin added of Agnelli, whose young daughter he became godfather to.
FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 photo, Giovanni, left, and Umberto Agnelli pose in Turin. If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game. He's a far cry from the late Giovanni Agnelli, who used to wake up his Juventus players with friendly phone calls at the crack of dawn — just to see how they were doing. If anything, Andrea is more like his sterner father, Umberto Agnelli, another former Juventus chairman, was. (AP PhotoSalvatore Giglio, File )
As some European soccer insiders have put it, Agnelli represents the tougher, more calculating side of a family that made its fortune running Fiat Automobiles — now Stellantis following mergers with Chrysler and Peugeot.
He's a far cry from the late Giovanni Agnelli, who used to wake up his Juventus players with friendly phone calls at the crack of dawn — just to see how they were doing.
If anything, Andrea is more like his sterner father, Umberto Agnelli, another former Juventus chairman.
FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2015 file photo, Juventus President Andrea Agnelli arrives for a Serie A soccer match between Napoli and Juventus, at the San Paolo stadium in Naples, Italy. If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game. (AP PhotoSalvatore Laporta, Files)
But toughness was just what Juventus needed when Andrea Agnelli was named club president 11 years ago when he was only 34.
It seems like a distant memory now, with Juventus having won the Italian league a record nine straight times, but Juventus was in disarray when Andrea Agnelli took over. The team was still struggling to recover from the match-fixing and refereeing scandal known as “Calciopoli” — which resulted in the team being stripped of two Italian titles and relegated to the second division.
“An Agnelli was needed to revive the club,” FIFA council member Evelina Christillin, a longtime associate of the Agnellis, told the Gazzetta dello Sport last year. “Andrea had ambition and courage and, thanks to him, Juventus is no longer just a soccer club anymore. It's a world unto its own.”
A man runs past a a banner in the colours of AC Milan and reading in Italian "On edge" on display outside the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Monday, April 19, 2021. AC Milan, along with Juventus and Inter Milan, are the three Italian clubs that entered as founding members in the European Super League. The Super League intends to launch a 20-team competition with 15 founding members but only 12 have currently signed up. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
Indeed, under Andrea Agnelli’s watch, Juventus has become the only major Italian club to open a new stadium and he was also the driving force behind bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to Turin three years ago.
“I remember him as a kid at Villar Perosa when he went wild watching games,” Christillin said, referring to the Agnelli’s summer villa. “Andrea is an athlete. He skis and goes scuba diving and plays soccer. In the stands, he’s almost like an ultra.”
Just about the only thing Andrea Agnelli has not accomplished with Juventus is win the Champions League, with the team having lost two of the last six finals.
A woman walks a dog near the Inter Milan headquarters in Milan, Italy, Monday, April 19, 2021. Inter, along with Juventus and Milan, are the three Italian clubs that entered as founding members in the European Super League. The Super League intends to launch a 20-team competition with 15 founding members but only 12 have currently signed up. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
This season has been a struggle for Juventus, with the team in fourth place in Serie A and at risk of missing out on next season’s Champions League.
Perhaps that’s why Agnelli is eager to create the Super League. Even if that means letting down the vast majority of the 246 teams he represented as president of the ECA.
“Our 12 founder clubs represent billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies,” Agnelli said in Sunday’s Super League statement, in which he was described as the league’s vice chairman.
FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018 file photo, Juventus' president Andrea Agnelli arrives at Villar Perosa, northern Italy. If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni, File)
“We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity.”
Investors seemed to agree with Agnelli, with Juventus shares soaring 18% in trading Monday on the Milan stock exchange.
Agnelli’s handling of the Super League is similar to the way he championed the introduction of a 1.7 billion euro ($2 billion) offer from a consortium of private equity funds that was to be charged with improving the sale and promotion of the Italian league’s TV rights, only to then back away.
FILE- In this file photo dated Tuesday, March 15, 2016, Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus, arrives at the Allianz Arena stadium prior to the Champions League soccer match between Bayern Munich and Juventus Turin in Munich, Germany. If the stylish and swashbuckling soccer romantic Giovanni Agnelli represented the epitome of club presidents a few generations ago, his nephew Andrea Agnelli’s affinity for the cut-throat business side of the sport falls more in line with the American and foreign owners who are gobbling up the European game. (AP PhotoMatthias Schrader, File)
Agnelli attempted to smooth things over during an online Serie A meeting Monday but that drew only ire from Urbano Cairo, the president of city rival Torino.
“I told him during the meeting, ‘How can you come here and talk about solidarity when you sabotaged the negotiations with the funds, already knowing you were doing the Super League?’" Cairo said. "It’s a betrayal. It’s what a Judas does.”
Even Christillin acknowledged that Agnelli had gone too far after she emerged from a day of UEFA meetings.
“We expected him at the executive committee but he resigned and his seat was empty," Christillin said on Italy's La7 TV. "I’m sorry. I wish him well but this time he’s made a decision that’s not right.”
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Montreux, Switzerland, contributed to this report.
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