Juve Stabia’s hopes of promotion to Serie A are slipping further and further out of reach. The reality, however, is quite different: first, the club was placed under compulsory administration due to links to the Mafia; then an alleged saviour appeared, but his time seems to be coming to an end once again due to serious allegations of fraud.
It has been known since last October 2025 that Juve Stabia is under compulsory administration. The reason: links to the Mafia.
“The team’s travel arrangements, security, catering, ticket management: everything was in the hands of the Camorra,” Public Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri had stated at the time during a press conference convened following the order for compulsory administration, adding: “ Juve Stabia is a club that plays in Serie B – and that is causing a stir.”
Prior to this, the activities of the southern Italian underworld in Castellammare di Stabia, a port town on the Gulf of Naples, had gone unnoticed for years.
Five minus four: double points deduction
The club has not had a moment’s peace since then. The ambitiously competitive club, which has never played in the top flight and most recently fell at the semi-final stage of the promotion play-offs last summer to eventual winners AC Monza, had two points deducted right at the start of the season. The Sports Tribunal of the Italian Football Federation (FICG) has now repeated this procedure.
The reason: according to the ruling, no financial guarantees were provided when the club was sold in April 2026 to the newly founded Juve Stabia SRL, led by ‘saviour’ Alfredo Guerri. Furthermore, the document formalising the sale to the new owner – who, with this move, had saved the club from sliding into obscurity – was missing.
On the pitch, Juve Stabia had so far picked up five points from five matches; due to the penalties, they now had just one point to their name, which ultimately meant they were second from bottom in Serie B.
Guerri and the “Superbonus Law”
Guerri is another matter entirely. The 53-year-old is under investigation for embezzlement and fraud – and, as part of its investigation into irregularities, the financial police had initially frozen 14.5 million euros of the building contractor’s profits. But that was by no means the end of the story; the real bombshell followed: as was publicly revealed, well over 100 million euros were seized. The total amount comes to 153 million euros.
Guerri is accused of having wrongfully claimed tax credits under the “Superbonus Law” (110 per cent), through which Italy aims to promote renovation work, during the period from 2021 to 2024;
At that time, Guerri owned two construction firms which are alleged to have claimed tax credits for building work that had not been carried out or had not been completed.
This also has consequences for Juve Stabia. Due to these new developments, documents submitted in April – which had demonstrated the club’s financial stability, including its licence for the 2026/27 Serie A season – are now invalid. Ultimately, this was also the reason for the latest points deduction.
What the future holds for the second-tier club is – as things stand – far from clear. The same applies to Guerri’s role in Castellammare di Stabia. In any case, the second-tier club has already reorganised itself. A new board of directors had to be appointed, which on Thursday elected Alfonso Morrone as the new president.