AC Milan CEO Marco Fassone explains why a voluntary agreement was not reached with UEFA in a video published on the club’s official website.
Here is a recap of the most salient points:
Why did UEFA reject the voluntary agreement?
It was a decision that we expected based on what was said the past few days. UEFA requested some additional documentation with conditions that were impossible to meet. The first of which was the refinancing of the debt with Elliott that is due by next October, and second a request to immediately deposit a significant amount of capital as a guarantee. These conditions are impossible to meet not only for Milan but any other club in a similar situation. We tried our best to explain this to the control board but they maintained their decision.
Milan was the first club to request a voluntary agreement. Was there anything you could have done better?
No I don’t believe so. Starting with our first encounter in November we provided a significant amount of documentation. We provided scenarios with optimistic and less optimistic results, including less revenues from China and poor results in the standings.
Milan must now move towards a Settlement Agreement, what does it consist of?
The settlement agreement is something many clubs in Europe are familiar with and has been in place for several years now, including some Italian clubs. We tried to avoid getting sanctions for violations of the FFP of previous years (2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17). We are not talking about violations of today but in the past. UEFA did not give us the option to avoid sanctions. We hope they will not be excessive and will be in line with sanctions that have been imposed in the past. UEFA will make a proposal to Milan with a sanction to cover the FFP violations of the previous years.
