AC Milan banned from Europa League for Next Season

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 any 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 Milan 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 read:

“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.