Milan allowed to play in Champions' League

UEFA have confirmed that AC Milan have been allowed to take part in this season’s Champions League. European football’s governing body were considering expelling the club from the competition on ethical grounds after they were punished as part of the match-fixing scandal.

However, after an emergency meeting, UEFA have given the Italian giants the green light to enter the competition. Milan were relegated to third in last season’s final Serie A standings and handed an eight-point penalty for the 2006-07 campaign. The Rossoneri will now play Crvena Zvezda, previously Red Star Belgrade, in the third qualifying round next week.

Nevertheless, UEFA have stated that they were 'deeply concerned' with the Italian scandal and admitted that they were forced to include them in the competition. "The UEFA Emergency Panel, being competent to decide on this matter, came to the conclusion that it had no choice but to admit Milan for the UEFA club competitions 2006-07 for formal reasons because of an insufficient legal basis in the regulations which would allow not admitting Milan under the specific circumstances," it stated.

"The Emergency Panel made a clear statement to the club that this admission is far from being given with the utmost conviction.Milan takes advantage of the fact that UEFA lacks legal grounds to refuse the club's admission. In this respect, Milan is herewith informed that the necessary adaptations will be made to the regulations concerned. The UEFA Emergency Panel is deeply concerned that Milan has created the impression of being involved in the improper influencing of the regular course of matches in the Italian football championship. From the statement of Milan, the Panel concluded that the club has obviously not yet properly perceived the troubles it is in and the damage it already caused to European football. UEFA and the club's opponents will observe with the utmost attention the future attitude of Milan around UEFA club competition fixtures. UEFA will not hesitate to intervene severely, should Milan be involved in any activities aiming to arrange improperly the outcome of a match."