AC Milan Banned from UEFA Competitions for Breach of Financial Fair Play Rules

Serie A giants AC Milan have received a European ban for failing to comply with UEFA's financial fair play regulations.

UEFA released a statement on the decision on Wednesday, explaining the Rossoneri will be excluded from the next club competition they qualify for in either the 2018-19 or 2019-20 campaign. Milan had already booked a spot in next year's Europa League.

Milan can still appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The statement read: "The club is excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next two (2) seasons (i.e. one competition in 2018/19 or 2019/20, subject to qualification)."

As shared by sportswriter Rob Harris, the tricky wording of the statement had some confused whether the ban was for one or two years:

The club's financial struggles have been a constant talking point since last year, when the club was sold to a Chinese consortium after lengthy negotiations, per the Independent's Samuel Lovett. The move was supposed to secure the financial future of the Rossoneri, but it has only led to more uncertainty.

The Rossoneri splashed the cash on several top players in the summer, including Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci, Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, Wolfsburg full-back Ricardo Rodriguez and Porto forward Andre Silva. They also sold a number of players, but mostly for minimal fees, with Mattia De Sciglio the departure with the highest profile.

UEFA will expand on its decision at a later time.