Fassone: “We are disappointed with UEFA. Our lawyers…”
AC Milan CEO Marco Fassone commented after the rejection of the Settlement Agreement by UEFA: “We did everything we could do”.
At the end of Lega Serie A meeting, AC Milan’s CEO, Marco Fassone, commented UEFA’s ruling which rejected the request for the Settlement Agreement and referred the Club to CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber for decision.
SURPRISE AND DISAPPOINTMENT
“I was surprised and very disappointed by the ruling, I was expecting UEFA to offer us a Settlement Agreement: because since Fair Play is in force, UEFA always offered such solution to all the clubs in a situation similar to that of AC Milan. There was only one case of a Russian team, not really a top-team, that was referred to the Adjudicatory Chamber immediately without UEFA offering a Settlement Agreement”.
WE SUBMITTED ALL DOSSIERS
“We went to UEFA 15 days after the closing and then therefore at a very early stage to submit our plans. We went back in November last year to discuss the Voluntary Agreement to which we were entitled to because the ownership was changed during 2017 but our request was rejected as the commission deemed it necessary to see a €165m bank guarantee to be issued by the Holding. Today the Settlement Agreement has not been granted to us because, the fact that the holding company (and not the Club) has not yet refinanced the debt with Elliott casts some doubts on the Club’s possible future after October 2018”.
ELLIOTT’S SPECIFIC GUARANTEES
“An absolutely precautionary hypothesis that raises doubts about what could be the scenario and that absolutely does not take into account that we have repeatedly proposed: ie to talk also with the current financier of the holding company, that is Elliott, that has also guaranteed in writing a continuity of the Club even in the worst scenario. But, above all, considering this year’s history with the continuous fulfillment by AC Milan’s ownership of all the requests made by the board of directors, the continuous capital increases paid regularly that have never generated any potential doubt about both solvency and liquidity”.
A DAMAGE TO THE CLUB’S REPUTATION
“I am disappointed because, as AC Milan’s CEO, I know that we did everything we could possibly do. We submitted very detailed plans and dossiers, but UEFA has some doubts relevant to other aspects. From tomorrow morning our lawyers will start analysing the ruling because the is no doubt that the referral to the Adjudicatory Chamber is an important damage at least of the Club’s reputation and therefore we will review it with great attention. We are absolutely confident about the Adjudicatory Chamber’s balanced assessment and we will supply all the necessary data with the greatest transparency possible and with the utmost good faith. As we have always done”.
BREACHES IN THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD 2014-2017
“I wish to remind you that today’s AC Milan is paying for the breaches occurred in the three-year period 2014-2017 when there was a different ownership, and that it has given its availability to pay the same sanctions that all the other clubs in similar situations received. The referral to the Adjudicatory Chamber disappointed us a lot because this Club deserved the Settlement Agreement due to its behavior at a financial level, a settlement agreement that, unfortunately, hasn’t arrived”.