Fabio Paratici has resigned from his position as managing director of football at Tottenham Hotspur after his appeal against a 30-month ban was rejected. Paratici lodged his appeal in Italy after being banned by football's world governing body Fifa over his role in transfer deals and finances while at former club Juventus. Initially, the ban in January by the Italian football federation (FIGC) only applied to his homeland, meaning he was free to continue working at Spurs, who he joined in June 2021. However, Fifa last month extended the scope of the ban to having worldwide effect, following a request from the Italian federation. On Thursday, Paritici's appeal was dismissed by Italy's highest sports court. “Whilst there continues to be a dispute as to the scope and extent of the ban, the current worldwide ban prevents Fabio from fulfilling his duties as our managing director of football,” Tottenham said in a statement. “Fabio has consequently taken the decision to resign from his position at the club with immediate effect to focus on his legal position in respect of the FIGC and Fifa rulings.” Paratici had already stepped back from his role pending the appeal with Scott Munn appointed as Tottenham's new chief football officer earlier this month. “This has been a stressful time for Fabio and his family,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said. “We wanted to ensure that we allowed for due process to be followed. Fabio is a man who lives and breathes football – we wish him well. “As outlined in our year end results, we started several months ago to restructure our football operations and last week announced the appointment of Scott Munn as chief football officer to head up all the departments. We shall continue to strengthen our football functions over the coming months.” The appeal hearing took place on Wednesday at the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) in front of the Sports Guarantee Panel. The panel accepted Juventus’ appeal against their points deduction and have ordered a new trial to take place. Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti and Enrico Vellano were also successful in appealing against their charges but Paratici, Andrea Agnelli and Federico Cherubini had theirs rejected. The Paratici affair, though, has put more pressure on Levy with fans disgruntled by Tottenham's 15-year trophy drought. Paratici played a major role in bringing former manager Antonio Conte to the club after the pair worked together at Juventus. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2023/03/27/antonio-conte-leaves-tottenham-with-julian-nagelsmann-eyed-as-long-term-replacement/" target="_blank">Conte left Spurs in March</a> after a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2023/03/18/antonio-conte-blasts-selfish-tottenham-stars-after-collapse-at-southampton/" target="_blank">highly-critical rant towards his players</a> following a 3-3 draw at Southampton. Levy attracted further criticism for then appointing Conte's former assistant Cristian Stellini as interim manager until the end of the season. A 3-2 home defeat to relegation-threatened Bournemouth last weekend has severely dented Spurs' hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League. Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League, three points adrift of Newcastle United, who they face on Sunday, but have played a game more than the Magpies.
