The ends justify the means—it’s a famous paraphrase of Niccolò Machiavelli, and a controversial one at that. But while Machiavelli’s worldview is easy to demonize, with good reason, there is an alluring seductiveness to the practical applications of his ideas that is hard to resist. People often point to strands of consequentialist thought that they agree with in politics or Ethics class. I think of Fabio Paratici.
Don Fabio’s career much resembles his nickname—a turbulent story of crime and drama. During his decade-long tenure as Juventus’ sporting director, Paratici’s slick professionalism and stewardship brought stability and stars like Cristiano Ronaldo. During COVID-19, he brought immense legal scrutiny that got him a 30-month suspension from football.
The Plusvalenza scandal detailed how Juventus exploited amortization by inflating transfer fees to register fictitious profit in order to comply with financial regulations during COVID-19. As Leonardo DiCaprio says in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “you’re probably not following what I’m saying. The question is, ‘was it legal?’ Absolutely not.”
Six months after his conviction, Paratici now works as an informal “advisor” for Tottenham Hotspur in London. Though he’s prohibited from holding employment, it is an open secret that Paratici still wields considerable influence. Last season, he was a symbol of Tottenham’s horrific failures and on-field embarrassment in the midst of the biggest scandal in recent memory. As written by Charlie Eccleshare, Spurs were “tainted by association with Paratici.”
This season, his signings have looked prophetic, and his transfer deals have turned the club around so fast that Tottenham fans are still experiencing the whiplash. He remains the same convicted criminal. But as he signs autographs with 60,000 fans chanting his name, it begs the question: does it even matter?
