 Juventus has one of sports' largest sponsorship deals |
Juventus shares have been temporarily suspended after it was threatened with demotion to the third tier of Italian football amid a match-fixing probe. Prosecutors investigating alleged corruption in the game have called for the current Italian champions to be demoted from Serie A to Serie C1.
Officials from Juventus and other top clubs are accused of influencing match officials but have denied wrongdoing.
Juventus shares have fallen 17% in value since the scandal broke in May.
Severe sanction
After prosecutor Stefano Palazzi called for the club to be demoted, Juventus shares fell 13% and were immediately suspended.
They resumed trading later on Tuesday and, in early afternoon dealings, were down 3%.
Juventus faces the most severe sanction of the four leading clubs charged with sporting fraud and unfair conduct in Italy's most high-profile sporting trial.
AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio - whose shares are also quoted on the stock market - face demotion to Serie B if found guilty.
Twenty six people, including club officials, referees and football administrators, are standing trial in Rome.
They include Luciano Moggi, Juventus's former general manager, who is accused of leading a conspiracy to influence match officials.
 | ANNUAL INCOME FOR 2004-05 1(2) Real Madrid �186.2m 2(1) Man Utd �166.4m 3(3) AC Milan �158m 4(5) Juventus �154.9m 5(4) Chelsea �149.1m 6(7) Barcelona �140.4m 7(9) Bayern Munich �128m 8(10) Liverpool �122.4m 9(8) Inter Milan �119.7m 10(6) Arsenal �115.7m Source: Deloitte (Previous season's positions in brackets) |
As well as being stripped of its last two league titles, Juventus could potentially be barred from European competition if it is found guilty.
The world's fourth-wealthiest club with income of nearly �155m in 2004-5, Juventus derives much of its wealth from regular participation in the latter stages of the Champions League.
The club, which boasts 21 million supporters across Europe, also has one of the world's most lucrative sports sponsorship deals, a �15m annual agreement with energy company Tamoil.
It also has commercial deals with about 30 other partners including Fiat, whose owners, the Agnelli family, ultimately control the club.
Fan loyalty
Michael Stirling, commercial director with sports sponsorship firm Global Sponsors, said the club's large fan base and its network of sponsors meant it was in a strong commercial position.
"I don't think it will really have an immediate impact on the brand, because the club's stars are still there and people will not shift their support so easily because the shares have been suspended."
But he said the potential commercial damage to the club from the scandal depended on the severity of the penalties it faced.
"If it was suspended from Europe, it would be out of the spotlight from a competition which has a global following and that could be damaging."
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If it was suspended from Europe it would be out of the spotlight
