AC Milan call for strong enforcement of new financial rules

MILAN : Former European champions AC Milan welcomed new rules that will limit spending by top clubs that were agreed by UEFA on Thursday.

Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis underlined the importance of making sure that soccer was financially sustainable.

"We hope that, after the period of transition from the previous system, the new rules will be strongly enforced to ensure that they can help drive us towards this ambition," Gazidis told Reuters in a statement.

Clubs will be limited to spending no more than 70per cent of their revenue on their squads under the new regulations that replace the Financial Fair Play system. The 70per cent figure will be reached after a three year transition period.

"As a club, our strategy has financial sustainability at its core and we are already taking steps to ensure that we will be in full compliance with the new rules," Gazidis added.

He said AC Milan, now owned by U.S. investment group Elliott, were in discussions with UEFA's Club Financial Control Body around their financial performance in recent years.

"We are confident of a successful outcome to these discussions given the significant progress that we have made with our sporting and financial turnaround thanks to the support of our ownership and the hard work of our management team."

One of the rebel clubs which initially joined a European breakaway league last year, AC Milan halved its latest full-year loss helped by improved performances on the pitch, while pursuing a policy to curb its wage bills.

"The failure of the Super League demonstrated that the only way to do this successfully is by creating an open and constructive environment based on transparency, dialogue and trust," Gazidis said.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Writing by Keith