In recent years, Italian clubs have been able to count on the Growth Decree to reduce their wage costs.
This decree allowed the clubs to save 50% on taxes related to player salaries when signing players from abroad.
However, many have considered it discrimination against domestic players, with Italian sides leaning towards signing foreigners to take advantage of the rule.
So according to La Gazzetta dello Sport via ilBianconero, the Italian government has now decided to abolish the Growth decree with a retroactive effect dating back to the summer.
As for Juventus, this will only affect the wages of Timothy Weah who was the club’s solitary signing in the summer. The retroactive effect will increase the American’s gross salary.
Juve FC say
We can expect football clubs to argue over the legality of the retroactive effect. After all, we’re talking about companies that delicately manage their balance sheets based on certain standards. So implementing sudden changes that affect their past dealings feels like an absurd and unfair measure on the government’s part.
That being said, Juventus shouldn’t be dramatically affected by the retroactive act due to the club’s uneventful summer transfer market. However, this could prompt the management to shift its focus towards domestic talent since the financial benefits that used to accompany the arrival of abroad signings no longer exist.
