In Nyon, AC Milan and Toulouse's situation will be examined on Monday. Both of the clubs belong to the same ownership group (RedBird Capital Partners). They both also secured participation in Champions League and Europa League, respectively. AC Milan secured a spot in the UEFA Champions League group stage by finishing fourth in Serie A, while the French club reached the Europa League by winning the Coupe de France.
This situation can con potentially conflict with UEFA regulations, which prohibit two clubs under same ownership from participating in the same continental competitions or in two consecutive tournaments (where there is risk of switching between the two). The only "exception", writes Calcio e Finanza, would be if one team played in the Champions League and the other in Conference League, as these tournaments do not allow for cross-competition.
UEFA regulations also establish criteria for determining which club must relinquish their European cup spot in such scenarios. Almost all the criteria (hierarchy of European competitions, league standings, Italy ranking higher than France in the UEFA ranking) favor AC Milan.
According to today's edition of Tuttosport, a decision is expected to be reached by the middle of next week. UEFA will be analysing three cases: Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise (both owned by English entrepreneur Tony Bloom), Aston Villa and Vitoria Guimaraes (owned by Nassef Sawiris).
Following their success in the Coupe de France and qualification for the Europa League next season, Toulouse's general director, Olivier Jaubert, expressed: "We are aware of the regulations, we follow them, and we have submitted all the necessary documents to the French Football Federation to obtain our UEFA license. We have also sent them to UEFA, and if they have any questions, they will receive a response."
