BREAKING: AC Milan banned from Europa League

Agency ReporterJune 28, 2019

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AC Milan have been excluded from the 2019-20 Europa League as a result of Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has announced.

The Serie A giants will play no part in continental competition during the upcoming campaign, despite having secured a fifth-place finish last season.

They ended 2018-19 one point behind arch-rivals Inter and outside of the Champions League spots.

The Rossoneri were due to participate in Europe’s secondary club tournament, but they have been forced to withdraw after failing to adhere to FFP regulations.

A statement from CAS reads: “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.

“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.”

Milan had faced similar sanctions ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, with UEFA having brought charges against them intending to block their participation in the Europa League.

That decision was overturned on appeal by CAS and the Rossoneri were reinstated but the Italian giants have been unable to repeat that success 12 months on.

Having been allowed to compete in 2018-19, Milan ended up being knocked out at the group stage.

A side then managed by Gennaro Gattuso finished third behind Real Betis and Olympiakos, falling at the first hurdle.

There has been plenty of change at San Siro since then, with Marco Giampaolo now at the helm but he will not get the chance to take in European action during his debut campaign.

With Milan being ruled out of the Europa League for 2019-20, Italian football has one place to fill. (Goal.com)

That invitation will drop one place down the final standings in Serie A from 2018-19, with Torino seemingly now replacing Milan.

Their campaign will start at the second qualifying round, with Roma joining old adversaries Lazio in securing a passage straight through to the group stage.