AC Milan challenge UEFA ban at sports court

LAUSANNE: AC Milan’s senior executives were at the world’s top sports court on Thursday fighting to overturn a European ban for breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules.

Managing director Marco Fassone, chief financial officer Valentina Montanari and a team of lawyers were set to lobby the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the Italian club’s Europa League ban for the upcoming season. The hearing is expected to last a full day with a decision due within 24 hours, a CAS spokesperson has said. AC Milan have spent a troubled 15 months since they were bought by Chinese businessman Li Yonghong from Silvio Berlusconi in April 2017. The takeover was partly funded by a high-interest loan of 300 million euros ($348 million) from American hedge fund Elliott Management. When Milan failed to make a repayment at the start of July, Elliott moved to take over, a process which is due to be ratified by club shareholders on July 21.