Italian giants AC Milan have been banned from competing in European cup competitions for breaches of Financial Fair Play regulations.

The Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) has taken the decision in the case of AC Milan for failure to comply with break-even regulations after the club spent nearly 200m euro on transfers last summer.

The decision was announced in a statement released by UEFA which read:

“The Adjudicatory Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), chaired by José Narciso da Cunha Rodrigues, has taken a decision in the case of the club AC Milan that had been referred to it by the CFCB Chief Investigator for the breach of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, in particular the break-even requirement.

“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).”

AC Milan will appeal the decision which they confirmed in an statement released on their official website. It read: “The Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body has decided to sanction AC Milan, for the breach of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations in the three-year period between July 2014 and June 2017 with one year of exclusion from UEFA Club Competitions.

“After taking note of the aforementioned ruling, AC Milan has instructed its legal team to appeal the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, seeking for a prompt review of the ruling. AC Milan fully trusts the CAS will hear its arguments and will refrain from commenting further pending the arbitration.”

The full reasoned decision will be published on UEFA.com in due course.