SEVEN-TIME EUROPEAN champions AC Milan have been banned from entering next season’s Europa League as a punishment for breaching Uefa Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The Italian club will be excluded from the 2018/19 competition after they failed to meet FFP’s break-even requirement, Uefa said on Wednesday.
Gennaro Gattuso’s side spent approximately €190 million in transfers during the 2017/18 season but only received approximately €35 million from transfer fees after the club was bought by a Chinese consortium in April last year.
Clubs’ finances are assessed every three seasons with clubs allowed to register a maximum loss of €30 million over the three seasons. The regulations were created to prevent clubs spending more than they earn and level the playing field for smaller clubs.
Ahead of the decision, the club released a video stating that they had made a €28 million profit for the year and said that they were expecting fairness and equality in Uefa’s decision.
Ahead of UEFA's judgement, we want to share with you some significant facts. We are expecting fairness, rulings based on facts, equal rules for all.#weareacmilan pic.twitter.com/KtQcLD5pmK
— AC Milan (@acmilan) June 25, 2018
In a statement, Uefa confirmed they had made “a decision in the case of the club AC Milan that had been referred to it by the CFCB Chief Investigator for the breach of the Uefa Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, in particular the break-even requirement.”
“The club is excluded from participating in the next Uefa club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next two (2) seasons (i.e. one competition in 2018/19 or 2019/20, subject to qualification).”
The decision is subject to a Milan appeal, while Uefa have confirmed that they will release more details in the near future.
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