Italian giants AC Milan banned from European football for one season
Published:Wednesday | June 27, 2018 | 10:48 AM
MILAN (AP) — UEFA has given AC Milan a one-year Europa League ban for overspending on player transfer and wages.
Milan last year spent more than 200 million euros (then nearly US$250 million) on new players amid questions over the financial stability of the Chinese-led consortium that purchased the Italian club from Silvio Berlusconi for US$800 million in April 2017.
Milan finished sixth in Serie A and qualified for the next Europa League competition but UEFA says that it has been now been excluded following a financial fair play investigation.
Milan can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Before the verdict, Milan released a video on Twitter saying they expected "fairness, rulings based on facts and equal rules for all" from UEFA.
The statement said the club are "ready to pay for the errors made in the past" and "have the utmost respect for the rules, but we expect equality".
UEFA's financial fair play rules were brought in to stop clubs running up huge debts, and they can be punished if they spend more money than they earn.
Sanctions for breaching the rules range from warnings and reprimands to points deductions and transfer embargoes.
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