[milanezos7]

The bulgarian football federation has asked that CSKA Sofia will be excluded from the next Champions League preliminary round cause of their financial situation; if UEFA will accept this request, the club that would replace the bulgarian team would be the one wit the highest UEFA coefficient, that means AC Milan. The italian club was involved in the opposite situation in 2006, when Lens asked to be admitted to the Champions League instead of Milan tha was involved in a corruption scandal. (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[m1ke]

Can't see it happening, but interesting news all the same. How bad is CSKA Sofia's situation?

[m1ke]

Just found this (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

CSKA Sofia To Miss Champions League?

PFC CSKA Sofia are on the verge of missing out on Champions League football next season after having their license revoked.

The Bulgarian Football Union have decided to revoke CSKA Sofia's license to play in the domestic league because of unpaid debts, and have notified UEFA of this matter.

Borislav Popov, executive director of the BFU, stated that UEFA will announce a decision on this case later this week.

It is expected that the administrative body for European football will decide to remove the Bulgarian champions from the third qualifying phase of the Champions League.

Although BFU chairman Krasin Krastev did not reveal CSKA Sofia's debt, he said: "We will not give CSKA a license. Now everything depends on UEFA's decision."

CSKA Sofia's president, Alexandar Tomov, has indicated that he won't appeal against this decision, considering this to be "the most shameful day in the history of the club."

[dst]

... (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) ...

So when will this be decided? Is there a history in this, any other club that has not been allowed to enter the competition for financial reasons?

This post has been edited by dst: Jun 4 2008, 10:13 AM

[m1ke]

Hm, done a bit more reading and it appears extremely unlikely that Milan are going to get given a CL place.

Apparently CSKA Sofia have another 24hours to pay their debt's. It's reported that the club's sponsors may take this on to secure a CL spot. Failing that, the vacant spot will go to FC Levski Sofia, not the highest ranking Uefa coefficient (Milan). There's been a precedent for this - http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/n...ate.html?070417

[m1ke]

Football Italia disagree with me:

Milan for Champions League?

Milan could sensationally be handed a place in the Champions League, as Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia face expulsion.

The Rossoneri were heartbroken when they were beaten to fourth place by Fiorentina last season and faced the indignity of sitting out the tournament they have made their own over the years.

But just as Milan’s fans and players got used to the idea of competing in the UEFA Cup, they may have been handed a lifeline.

Bulgaria’s FA has asked that champions CSKA Sofia are banned from the Champions League due to financial problems.

This would open up a space in the second preliminary round, which would be given to the side with the highest UEFA ranking that aren’t already involved in the competition – Milan.

There is a precedent for this kind of action, which also involves the Diavolo.

In 2006, Milan missed out on the Champions League due to the Calciopoli scandal but were reinstated into the third preliminary round on appeal – had the appeal failed Lens were ready to enter due to UEFA coefficient.

Should the world champions be allowed into the Champions League it may have vast implications for their summer transfer policy.

[arivanjj]

i'd certainly welcome it... but seems unlikely to me.

[dst]

This article you posted puzzles me, Mike. The thing is, I remember the Lens president the season before the last one talking about how his team deserved to be in the CL instead of Milan... (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[m1ke]

^^ Yeah, he did. He felt that Milan shouldn't have been allowed to enter because of the Calciopoli - and lodged an appeal to Uefa. But the Lega Calcio reduced Milan's points reduction, effectively putting them 4th and they qualified for the CL as normal.

Had the Lega not reduced Milan's points reduction, I'm pretty sure Lens would have got the place.

[dst]

^^ Yeah, he did. He felt that Milan shouldn't have been allowed to enter because of the Calciopoli - and lodged an appeal to Uefa. But the Lega Calcio reduced Milan's points reduction, effectively putting them 4th and they qualified for the CL as normal.

Had the Lega not reduced Milan's points reduction, I'm pretty sure Lens would have got the place.

I cannot remember Palermo, who had finished in 5th place on the previous season, being mentioned as the team to take Milan's place. It was always Lens.

So I guess it's the same with Levski Sofia now... they don't come after CSKA, Milan does. (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[m1ke]

Ah, I see what you're saying.

I think the footballing federation of the country in question can put forward alternative clubs, but ultimately it's up to Uefa. There must be rules about this somewhere on the net!

[Zed.D]

See the reactions (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

http://www.goal.com/en/CommentsList.aspx?ContenutoId=722703

[m1ke]

Who cares what most of those idiots are saying - this is a Uefa ruling and has nothing to do with Milan really. If a club is expelled for valid reasons, and Uefa's rules state that the club with the highest coefficient should take their place, then their problem is with Uefa, not Milan.

[m1ke]

A few things I've seen in the CL rules PDF:

Number of clubs per UEFA member association
1.01 UEFA member associations may enter a certain number of clubs for the
competition, in accordance with their position in the coefficient rankings in
Annex Ia, drawn up in accordance with Annex II of these regulations.
However, no association may enter more than four clubs for the competition.
These rankings also determine the stage at which clubs join the competition.

Admission criteria
1.04 To be eligible to participate in the competition, a club must fulfil the following
criteria:
B ) it must have obtained a licence issued by the national association
concerned in accordance with the applicable national club licensing
regulations as accredited by UEFA in accordance with the UEFA club
licensing manual (version 1.0);

A club which is not admitted to the competition shall be replaced by the next
best-placed club in the top domestic league championship of the same
national association, provided it fulfils the admission criteria. In this case, the
access list for the UEFA Club Competitions (Annex Ia) will be adjusted
accordingly.

[Zed.D]

Who cares what most of those idiots are saying - this is a Uefa ruling and has nothing to do with Milan really. If a club is expelled for valid reasons, and Uefa's rules state that the club with the highest coefficient should take their place, then their problem is with Uefa, not Milan.

So... if CSKA get expelled, there's 50% chance that Milan will take their place... it's either Milan or Bulgarian league's runners-up, right?