UEFA and AC Milan are set to meet in court in mid-June over the Italian club’s failure to agree on a punishment over Financial Fair Play restrictions.
In December of last year, the Rossoneri rejected European football’s governing body voluntary agreement offer and now a settlement agreement has failed to be reach between the parties.
It is a rare situation as UEFA and clubs usually come to a mutual agreement and on Tuesday afternoon, Milan were informed by UEFA that it will be referred to a trial which will likely take place a month from now.
The hope in Nyon was that by offering the Diavolo extra time, good news would arrive in the form of a plan in relation refinancing, ownership and future revenues, of which there is uncertainty with all three areas of concern.
For the five judges who will oversee the case, they now have a wide range of sanctions available to them, which could even see Milan excluded from the Europa League, with Atalanta moving into the group stage and Fiorentina entering at the second qualifying round phase.
That is the worst possible punishment they could face, although given that Milan face more than a €100 million deficit over the next three years, UEFA are unlikely to go easy on them.
There is an extensive list of sanctions available to UEFA, ranging from a transfer embargo to squad size limitation, unlikely as those seem at this time.
