AC Milan’s ban from the 2018-19 Europa League for breaching Financial Fair Play and licensing regulations has been overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). UEFA confirmed in late June they had taken drastic action against Milan’s apparent breaches of break-even requirements, barring them from competing in Europe’s second-tier competition for next season.
Milan, who qualified for the Europa League by virtue of finishing sixth in Serie A, immediately launched an appeal to CAS. And their ban from the competition has, as a result, been annulled, although they could still end up with some form of punishment, with CAS telling UEFA to “issue a proportionate disciplinary measure”.
UEFA’s initial sanction related to Milan’s failure to fulfil the break-even requirement set out in the governing body’s Financial Fair Play regulations. While CAS accepted this decision, rejecting the Rossoneri’s request to force UEFA into a settlement agreement, it claimed the ban from Europe was not a proportionate punishment.CAS also said UEFA’s Adjudicatory Chamber had not properly assessed some “important elements” and pointed to the takeover of the club’s holding company by Elliott Management this month as a sign of Milan’s improved financial situation.
A CAS statement read: “The CAS panel rejected AC Milan’s request to order UEFA to enter into a settlement agreement but acknowledged that the decision of the adjudicatory chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) to exclude AC Milan from the UEFA club competition was not proportionate.
“The Panel considered that some important elements have not been properly assessed by the adjudicatory chamber, or could not be properly assessed at the moment when the appealed decision was rendered, and noted in particular that the current financial situation of the club was now better, following the recent change in the club’s ownership.
“The panel decided to refer the case back to the adjudicatory chamber of the UEFA CFCB because the club had requested that the case be referred back to UEFA and because it considers that the adjudicatory chamber is in a better position than the CAS panel to issue a new proportionate disciplinary measure on the basis of the current financial situation of the club.”
Uefa’s decision was taken last month but AC Milan hoped to win the appeal now that Yonghong Li has left the club and Elliott has taken over.
Fassone had spoken for over 90 minutes with members of the arbitration of sport in Lausanne insisting that Uefa’s decision was unfair if compared with previous rulings. Fassone has also highlighted how the club’s debt is now being under the control of Elliott. The American fund has a long-term plan to put AC Milan books in order. Franck Tuill, a representative of Elliott, took part to the meeting alongside Fassone. Tuill is one of the candidates for the role of AC Milan’s CEO.
However, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, president of the Italian association of sports lawyers Salvatore Civale, who specialises in sports law, economics and international arbitration, believed that they can hold out hope of still competing in Europe next season.
“The recent public statement [by Elliott group] guaranteed continuity for Milan but new evidence is needed to convince the Court of Arbitration for Sport and UEFA that the punishment is excessive,” he had said.
“There is a favourable precedent in such a case, like Partizan Belgrade last year who were excluded at first from the cups for previous debts before the Court found an agreement with UEFA to suspend and reformulate the sanction.
“With the CAS, there is hope and Milan have also been punished for their first and only violation without any previous penalty so in a sense, they can also complain that they have been treated worse than others.”