Tottenham chief Paratici gets ‘worldwide ban’ with future in doubt

Tottenham chief Fabio Paratici has had his ban extended by the Italian FA (FIGC), throwing his future at Spurs into serious jeopardy. The Italian was at Juventus at a time where they have now been found guilty of false accounting and hit with a Serie A points deduction.

Paratici was initially handed a 30-month ban by FIGC which applied to Italian football only meaning he he was able to continue going about his duties at Tottenham, though his punishment has now been increased so that it applies to worldwide football.

A FIFA statement read: “FIFA can confirm that following a request by the FIGC, the chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanctions imposed by FIGC on several football officials to have worldwide effect.”

Paratici, who was at Juventus from 2010 to 2021, and the 11 other executives who were at the club will now continue to be investigated, though they collectively deny any wrongdoing and will appeal their punishment. The Allianz Stadium outfit were docked 15 points earlier this season as a result of the initial enquiry, and it remains to be seen what the implications of further scrutinising brings.

Paratici was expected to play a key role in finding a replacement for recently-departed manager Antonio Conte over the coming months, though Tottenham may now be forced to find an alternative director to spearhead the search.

Conte left the club over the weekend after he came under fire for blasting his players publicly for throwing away the lead against Southampton. The former Chelsea boss criticised the mentality of squad and claimed that a change of face in the dugout has proven to not be the effective way for the club to end their trophy drought.

Speaking to Tottenham’s social channels about the decision to part ways with Conte, described as a mutual agreement, Paratici said: “We know how difficult it’s been this season for him [Conte] personally. The club supported him a lot about it but then we arrived at this mutual agreement and I think the decision we made was the right decision to everyone.

“So Cristian [Stellini] managed the team when Antonio was sick this season and was good. He has a lot of experience as a second and he was made even first coach in the past.

“So then we have Ryan Mason who can help him a lot. He has been a part of this club for a long time, he knows everything about this club and this group of players so I think we are really really really confident that these two people can make a very good job. The players don’t have to change habits and style for training so changing everything when you have just 10 games to go I think would be really difficult for the players.”