Milan, Fassone remarks on UEFA rulings: "We are managing the club in a healthy way, the decision has marred the image of our club"

On Tuesday UEFA announced that it had rejected Milan's request for a settlement agreement in the matter of the investigation into the club's financial structure. Upon completing the investigation, the punishments that UEFA could potentially hand out include anything from a ban on transfers to barring Milan from competing in European competitions. The club's CEO Marco Fassone responded to the decision, releasing a statement from the offices of Lega Calcio: "It seems important that Milan take a firm stance with the statement, which understandably, has caused a lot of bitterness to me. We went before UEFA the first time 15 days after the closing, when obviously the timing was extremely premature to present our plans. We returned in November of last year to discuss the Voluntary Agreement. It was not granted to us by the commission because of the €165m loan guarantee from the holding company. But now UEFA is not granting us the settlement for the fact that the holding company has not refinanced the debt with Elliot which has clouded the future of the club. But this does not take into account our proposal to hear our creditors that it is Elliot that has guaranteed to continue to sustain business, but also to continue to augment the club with capital. The settlement agreement was not granted to us because UEFA says that an inability to refinance puts the future of the club in doubt. The postponement in June troubles us because we are managing the club in a healthy way and we deserved a settlement agreement. Beginning tomorrow morning our attorneys will get to work because the decision has sullied the image of our club."