AC Milan has been fined €12 million by Uefa and threatened with a one-season ban from European competition for breaking financial fair play rules.
Uefa said its club finance panel ruled the ban will be activated if Milan fails to break even on soccer-related business in June
The decision was announced the day after Milan was eliminated from the Europa League in the group stage. The €12 million will be deducted from its prize money.
The fine is one of the biggest imposed by Uefa since financial fair play sanctions began in 2014. Then, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain had €20 million withheld from their Champions League prize money.
Uefa originally banned Milan from the Europa League in June for violations of rules monitoring spending on player transfers and wages up to 2017. The club also spent heavily in an off season spending spree that year.
Milan was reinstated within weeks by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which sent the case back to Uefa for a fairer punishment.
The court said an immediate ban had been too harsh given the club’s new business plan after a takeover by US.-based hedge fund Elliott Management.
Elliott took control of Milan in June after former owner Li Yonghong missed a deadline to repay part of a loan worth more than €300 million from the hedge fund. Elliott repossessed the holding company in Luxembourg that Li used to buy Milan.
Milan can appeal the punishments to CAS.
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