UEFA admitted AC Milan into next season's Champions League Wednesday despite blasting the club for its role in the recent match-fixing scandal that has thrown Italian soccer into disarray.
UEFA's Emergency Panel, which made the decision, stressed Milan were only being allowed to take part in the competition because it lacked the "legal grounds to refuse the club's admission".
It added that it was "deeply concerned that AC Milan has created the impression of being involved in the improper influencing of the regular course of matches in the Italian football championship".
Milan are among four clubs found guilty by the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) of trying to ensure 'friendly' officials were assigned to their matches. The FIGC judged Milan's misdemeanours to be less serious than the other three - Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina - and allowed the club to stay in the Champions League, which they last won in 2003.
As punishment, Milan must start the next Serie A season with an eight-point penalty.
The panel criticized the club for not perceiving "the troubles it is in and the damage it already caused to European football".
It warned that "UEFA will not hesitate to intervene severely, should AC Milan be involved in any activities aiming to arrange improperly the outcome of a match".
The panel also said that UEFA will alter its regulations so that it can stop scandal-tainted teams taking part in European club competitions in the future. Milan's lawyer Leandro Cantamessa countered that the club had "already been subjected to disciplinary sanctions, despite being totally innocent".
Cantamessa claimed that doing this a second time would have been unjust.
Six-time European champions Milan have been drawn against the winner of the clash between Cork City and Red Star Belgrade in the third Champions League preliminary round.
Milan will find out which they will face on Wednesday night, when the sides meet in Belgrade in the return leg of their second-round encounter. The more likely opponents are the Serbs. Red Star, European Cup winners in 1991, beat the Irish Champions 0-1 in Cork last week in the first leg.
The third Champions League qualifying round takes place on August 8-9 and August 22-23, with Milan playing the first leg at home at the San Siro Stadium.
Juventus and Fiorentina originally qualified for the Champions League, but have been expelled by the FIGC as part of their punishment for involvement in the match-rigging. Their places went to AS Roma and Chievo. Lazio have lost their slot in the UEFA Cup.
Juventus have been relegated to Serie B and will start the season with a 17-point handicap.
They have been stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Italian league titles too.
The latter has been awarded to Inter Milan.
Lazio and Fiorentina will start the campaign at -11 and -19 points respectively. Pundits say Juventus have been hit hardest because the club's former general manager, Luciano Moggi, was the alleged mastermind of a network set up to steer matches in some teams' favour.
FIGC and the Italian Soccer League have announced that the start of the upcoming Serie A season has been postponed from August 27 to September 9.
This is to allow Lazio, Juve and Fiorentina time to appeal against their punishments to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).
If the sentences are not softened by CONI, the clubs may take their cases to administrative courts.
Chievo Verona, which are in the final Champions League qualifying round before the group stage along with Milan, will meet PFC Levski Sofia or FC Sioni Bolnisi of Georgia. The Bulgarian title-holders go into the second leg against Sioni with a 2-0 advantage from the encounter in Sofia.
Chievo are taking part in Europe's premier club competition for the first time. The Verona outfit's only previous experience in European competition was in the 2003-04 UEFA Cup, when they were knocked out by Red Star in the first round.
Inter Milan and Roma have qualified directly for the group stages of the competition, which starts on September 12.
