Italian soccer team Juventus is assessed a point penalty.

Following an appeal session at the Italian football association, Juventus, the most illustrious football team in Italy, was assessed a severe 15-point penalty for dishonest accounting.

Juventus was charged with exploiting capital gains, which are defined as the positive difference between the buy and sale prices after amortization and write-downs, in a string of player trades where little to no money changed hands between teams.

The sports court first absolved the club in April of last year despite their denials of misconduct. But once the federation obtained documents from the Turin prosecutors from a different criminal investigation into Juventus's finances, an appeal was launched.

Juventus, a team that has won the Italian championship 36 times in total, was third in Serie A with 37 points after 20 games, 10 points adrift of league-leading Napoli.

They drop to 10th place as a result of the punishment, which could prevent them from competing in Europe next season.

In one widely publicized agreement, Miralem Pjanic moved to Catalonia and Arthur Melo made the opposite move in 2020.

Additionally, it appears that more unreported by the club alleged hidden payments to former player Cristiano Ronaldo have been found by Turin's prosecutors.

Eleven former and present Juventus directors were also given lifetime bans from holding any positions in Italian sport by the court.

These included 24 months for Andrea Agnelli, who officially resigned as chairman in November and was replaced this week by Gianluca Ferrero, and 30 months for Fabio Paratici, who is currently managing director of football at English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur.

Juventus will learn whether they and the former club board members will face criminal charges related to alleged false accounting during a preliminary hearing in March.

Exor Holdings, a holding company owned by the Agnelli family, controls the club, and its shares are traded on the Milan Stock Exchange.

Juventus has asserted that its accounting complied with industry norms and denied any misconduct.

"We believe this to be a flagrant injustice also for millions of fans," the club's attorneys said in a statement. "We trust that this will soon be addressed in the next court."

Once the decision's justifications were made public, they declared they will file an appeal with the nation's Sport Guarantee Board.

The club's finances, which were already about 239 million euros ($260 million) in the red last season, would take a further hit if they were to lose out on Europe's top and richest club championship.

The court upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit against eight further soccer organizations, including Sampdoria and Empoli of Serie A, and their directors.

The penalty was given 17 years after the "Calciopoli" refereeing controversy that cost Juventus two Serie A championships and resulted in their promotion to Serie B.