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Oh great. These guys again.
UEFA has announced another complaint against AC Milan because of an alleged breach of the Financial Fair Play rules in regards to the break-even requirement. Unlike the past complaints, which had to do with previous years, the focus of this complaint is from the years of 2016, 2017, and 2018.
UEFA CFCB investigatory chamber refers AC Milan to adjudicatory chamber for breach of break-even requirement during current monitoring period assessed in 2018/19 + covering reporting periods 2016, 2017 & 2018. Case is unrelated to UEFA decision of Dec 2018.https://t.co/u8ATR2w2U3
— Lombardi Associates (@LombardiAssocs) April 10, 2019
The UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) investigatory chamber has today communicated its decision to refer the case of AC Milan (Italy) to the CFCB adjudicatory chamber as the club has failed to comply with the break-even requirement during the current monitoring period assessed in the 2018/19 season and covering the reporting periods ending in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
UEFA will be making no further comments on the matter until a decision has been reached by the CFCB adjudicatory chamber in this case.
This referral is not related to the decision that was made by the CFCB adjudicatory chamber in December 2018 concerning the previous monitoring period and was covering the reporting periods ending in 2015, 2016 and 2017. That decision is currently subject to an appeal at CAS.
It seems a little absurd to be penalized for a reporting period that has already been the subject of a complaint, but here we are. Yes, the spending in the summer of 2017 was absurd, but those owners are gone and UEFA has already been disputing the financial position of the club because of that spending.
A violation for the three-year reporting period up to the end of 2018 seems unfair and a tad like double-jeopardy. If Milan are already being penalized for the sins of past years, then why is the club back in court?
If anything, this seems like UEFA is trying, once again, to make an example of Milan and is ignoring overspending by the petrodollar fueled clubs. If clubs such as Manchester City and PSG are able to spend money without penalty, then the rules mean nothing and selectively applying them to other clubs just seems wrong.