The entire Juventus financial scandal explained: Why the Bianconeri have been docked 15 points

The media have also been left in a state of shock by the FIGC ruling. It had been widely thought that Juve were in serious trouble – the resignation of the entire board was an ominous sign – but the severity of the sentence still took many by surprise.

Indeed, it is worth noting that earlier on Friday China had only called for a nine-point penalty for Juve; instead, they were docked 15 points.

The Gazzetta dello Sport called it a “sensational sentence”, above a headline which red ‘Juve stung!’

The pink paper offered quite a measured take on the affair, though.

It was a very different story in Tuttosport, the Turin-based sports daily which called the ruling “Crazy stuff! Juve -15: Injustice is done!”

They particularly wanted to know why only Juve had been punished, given it should, in theory, take two clubs to inflate a transfer fee.

Sampdoria, Empoli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Pescara, Pro Vercelli and Novara were all absolved of any wrongdoing and this was a theme picked up by former Italy international Antonio Cassano.

“Look, I rarely defend Juve on any level, because they play horrible football, but in this case I am on the Bianconeri’s side,” he told BoboTV. “That means if they made a mistake, it is right that they pay, even going into Serie C.

“But it has to be the same for everyone. If that happens, it’s not just Juve who are going to be punished, it’s going to be a tidal wave through Serie A, B and C.

“Obviously, Juve warrant 50 pages in the newspapers, whereas the other clubs are all little sidebars. Let us not kid ourselves that only Juve did this: if they did this, then other clubs did too and they must all be punished.”