AC Milan have been excluded from the Europa League for the upcoming 2019-20 season, paving the way for Serie A rivals Torino to take their place.
The Rossoneri were thought to have been in dialogue with UEFA regarding their financial situation, even proposing they exclude themselves out of compliance.
A statement from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed the expulsion of Milan for the upcoming season on the grounds of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations..
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued a Consent Award embodying the agreement reached between AC Milan S.p.A and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) concerning breaches of the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations by the Italian club,” read the statement.
“i. The Decision rendered by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body in the case AC-05/2018 on 20 November 2018 (i.e. decision under appeal in the CAS 2018/A/6083 matter) is set aside.
“ii. The Decision rendered by the Investigatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body on 10 April 2019 (i.e. decision under appeal in the CAS 2018/A/6261 matter) is set aside.
“iii. The decisions referred to under item i) and ii) above are replaced by the following order: “AC Milan is excluded from participating in the UEFA Club Competitions of the sporting season 2019/2020 as a consequence of the breach of its FFP break-even obligations during the 2015/2016/2017 and the 2016/2017/2018 monitoring periods”.
“iv. The Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body is invited to issue a Procedural Order, acknowledging the outcome of the present arbitration(s) and terminating the AC-01/2019 proceedings relating to the 2016/2017/2018 monitoring period, which have become moot.
“v. The costs of the proceedings CAS 2018/A/6083 and CAS 2019/A/6261 shall be borne by AC Milan.
“vi. Each Party shall bear its own costs.
“vii. The CAS Award shall be made public.”
Milan will look to use the upcoming season as an opportunity to put their finances in order by potentially selling a number of high profile players including Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Roma will thus be admitted directly into the group stage of the competition, with Torino expected to replace the Rossoneri’s as Italy’s third representative in the competition.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com