On Tuesday night, Juventus sealed their qualification to the final of the Coppa Italia after a holding their rivals Inter to a stalemate.
The first leg’s 2-1 win was enough for the Old Lady, who denied the Nerazzurri with a solid if not spectacular 0-0 draw.
Whilst the players on the pitch were mostly respectful towards each other, some of the men outside of the pitch were a lot less civilized.
The decisive encounter was marred by a series of ugly rows between the Bianconeri hierarchy and Inter manager Antonio Conte.
The Juventus directors were little impressed with the tactician’s tendency to complain over every refereeing decision that didn’t go in his favor, and the situation quickly escalated.
The former Juve coach directed a nasty hand gesture towards his former employers after the half time whistle, and club president Andrea Agnelli returned the favor at the end of the match with some unkind remarks to say the least.
Other reports claim that Juventus director Fabio Paratici had also threatened Inter coordinator Gabriele Oriali.
However, it must be said that in the midst of this whole chaotic situation, it’s the Old Lady’s president who has the most to lose.
Although a large section of the Bianconeri fans has enjoyed seeing the man who betrayed them (in a footballing sense of course) being insulted by their club’s president, Agnelli should have avoided such controversy.
Italian football has its fair share of colorful patrons who would often cross the line with their ill-advised remarks, with Aurelio De Laurentiis, Maurizio Zamparini and Claudio Lotito as examples.
Nonetheless, a little more class and courtesy is expected from the son of Umberto Agnelli and the nephew of the great Gianni Agnelli.
Moreover, the Juventus president is currently the chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), which is an organization that is arguably planning on revolutionizing football itself.
So while some people within Italian football might find this row amusing, their European neighbors won’t be too impressed with Agnelli’s behavior.
Therefore, the Bianconeri patron should prevent himself from repeating such actions in the future, otherwise the ECA will probably consider someone else to act as the head and image of the global association.
