AC Milan Banned From 2019/20 Europa League Due to FFP Breaches as Torino Take Their Place
AC Milan have been disqualified from the Europa League for 2019/20, accepting their punishment for Financial Fair Play breaches, and will sit out the competition despite having finished fifth in Serie A.
The decision comes from the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Milan had acknowledged they had failed to meet UEFA's FFP regulations in the last two years, and asked for their exclusion from European competition to give them time to amend their finances.
A statement from CAS reads: “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.
TAS issued their ruling: Milan out of Europa League for 2019/20 season, Torino will replace them
— David Amoyal (@DavidAmoyal) June 28, 2019
“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".
AC Milan will not take part in the Europa League next season after being banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 28, 2019
The statement goes further, noting that Milan will cover its costs for the investigation and that the decision would be made public.
It means that Torino, who finished seventh, will take their place in the competition, while AS Roma will go straight into the group stage, rather than facing a qualifier.