Giovanni Agnelli, the honorary president of Juventus, has died at the age of 81, his family have confirmed.
“Giovanni Agnelli died in his house in Turin after months of illness,” the family said in a short statement.
“His wife Marella and daughter Margherita and her family were present.”
Agnelli had been suffering from prostate cancer.
Agnelli’s father Edoardo, took charge of Juventus in 1923, presiding over over a period of unprecedented success at the club. Juventus won five successive championships between 1931 and 1935, before Edoardo was killed in a plane crash in 1935,
Giovanni took control of the club in 1947 and was at the helm for Juve’s eighth and ninth Scudettos in 1950 and 1952. He stepped down on 1953, three years before his brother Umberto assumed control of the club and maintained Juventus’ domestic pre-eminence.
Alifelong Juventus supporter Giovanni continued to watch the club and attend sessions at the club’s former training ground at Stadio Comunale.
