UEFA’s investigation into AC Milan’s finances has resulted in a recommendation that the illustrious Italian club be banned from participating in European competition, the New York Times’ Tariq Panja reports.
European football’s governing body has been looking into Milan’s dealings for several months and last week rejected a settlement agreement from I Rossoneri after finding the club breached Financial Fair Play regulations. Milan CEO Marco Fassone stated he was “disappointed” by the ruling, which referred the case to an adjudicatory hearing.
Now, two anonymous sources from within the investigatory process have told Panja that the club has been found to have violated rules intended to limit spending, and could face dire consequences.
Per Panja, Milan loses “tens of millions of dollars” each year but spent around €230 million (£203 million) on new players last summer in a bid to return to the Champions League.
Despite betting big on itself to return to the big time this season, Milan, an 18-time Italian champion and winner of seven European Cup titles, only qualified for next season’s Europa League. The financial ramifications of that failure are likely to be devastating.
Investigators will now advocate for Milan’s exclusion from all European competition, which would see the club forced to forfeit its Europa League berth, not to mention the revenue and appeal that comes with continental qualification.
A final decision on the recommendation is due in June.
RENTON, Wash. — When Brandon Marshall visited the Seattle Seahawks as a restricted free agent in 2010, the team flew him into its lakefront headquarters via a seaplane. It was a pull-out-all-the-stops move by Pete Carroll, who, in his first season in Seattle following nine at USC, was tapping into his recruiting background to try to woo one of the best available receivers.
The Seahawks didn’t need a seaplane to land Marshall eight years later. At 34 years old and coming off a pair of surgeries, he feels grateful to have another shot. He’s getting it in Seattle after signing a one-year deal that was agreed to on Tuesday.
“I didn’t have a ton of options,” Marshall said Wednesday following the Seahawks’ fifth organized team activity. “I think the sentiment around the league is that I’m done, and I get it. Rightfully so. When you get on the other side of 30 and your production slips and you have a big injury, people just count you out. So it was an interesting process. It was a humbling process, to say the least. There were some really tough days that I had to push through, mentally and physically, so for this to be an opportunity and come to [fruition], you can’t ask for a better situation. You’ve got probably a top-three quarterback, you’ve got one the best franchises, you’ve got a young nucleus, guys that are hungry and ready to compete.”
Marshall took part in Wednesday’s practice, sporting the No. 15 that he has worn for most of his NFL career. He caught some passes from Russell Wilson and Seattle’s other quarterbacks during positional periods, but he didn’t take part in any of the 11-on-11 drills.
“We just had to just ease him in today,” Carroll said. “Just get him started, get him on the field with us and Friday we’ll do a little bit more, just keep growing with it.”
Newly signed Seahawks wide receiver Brandon Marshall played in only five games last season while with the Giants. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
But that price is reflective of his age and health. His 2017 season ended after five games because of an ankle injury that he had surgically repaired, leading the New York Giants to release him in April with a failed-physical designation. Marshall revealed Wednesday that he also had surgery to fix a toe injury that had been bothering him since midway through the 2015 season, saying he had previously intended to put it off until he retired because it came with such a long rehab but that the ankle injury gave him that time.
Marshall said he was first able to run without pain again a few days after the Giants released him in April. His recovery from the toe surgery, he said, has taken the longest.
“I feel good. I don’t feel great,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do and get into some football shape. Since the end of October, I was working with Coach [Aaron] Wellman, our head strength and conditioning coach with the Giants, and we’d been doing a lot of rehab, fixing things. So now the last couple weeks, I’ve finally got an opportunity to go into training, getting better at catching the ball, getting better at route-running, getting better at decelerating and all those little things that make you a great wide receiver.
“So I’m excited about the process. I’m not where I want to be, not even close, but my goal is to be in midseason form come camp.”
The Seahawks are Marshall’s sixth team. In addition to his 2010 visit as an RFA with the Denver Broncos, Marshall said the Seahawks had interest in him in 2015 following his three seasons with the Chicago Bears and last year after his two-year run with the Jets ended.
Alluding to a past that includes several run-ins with the law, an NFL and a team suspension as well as a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, Marshall said the screening the Seahawks put him through during his latest visit earlier this month was more intense than the TSA line.
“They did their due diligence, to say the least, and they really broke down everything since I’ve been in the league, and we had some great conversations, some transparent conversations and some challenging conversations,” he said. “I had to answer some tough questions. But I think the biggest thing that they wanted to see was me run around. At this point [in their careers], a lot of guys would say, ‘I’m 34 and I’m established. Why do I have to work out?’ So I think my workout was good. It wasn’t great because of where it was in my rehab process, but I was proud of it. Just two weeks before that workout, three weeks before that workout was the first time I was able to even get on the field and run full routes pain-free.”
Marshall felt so good about his workout that he bought some Seahawks apparel at the airport on his way home. That included the bright green T-shirt he was wearing in the picture he posted to Instagram to announce his deal with the Seahawks.
As for that seaplane in 2010?
“That was fresh off the recruiting trails,” Carroll said, “so I think we flew him in, flew him into the dock or something silly like that. It was crazy. We never did it again. But we went all out. It didn’t work out. So since then … we’ve had our eye on him for a long time because of his style of play. Very aggressive, can be the big receiver in the offense and his playmaking has always been something that we’ve kept an eye on.”
Marshall confirmed that he won’t resume his analyst duties on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,” citing the long travel between Seattle and New Jersey, where the show is taped. But he may take part remotely on occasion.
“At this point in my career, I’m just focused on going out the right way and being a football player,” he said. “Those opportunities will be there when I’m done.”
Marshall and the Seahawks hope he’s not done just yet.
“He’s a big receiver, he’s a physical guy, he works well in close areas, working off of defenders and all that,” Carroll said. “The fact that he’s been a go-to guy in his past, there’s those kinds of thoughts out there. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know. We’ll see how he fits in. Really, he’s like the rest of the guys. He’s got to battle for every step of the way, and he knows that. I was very emphatic about how this is going to work out, and he was fired up about it and ready to go.”
Madrid – Cristiano Ronaldo won the Champions League for a fifth time on Saturday but the striker’s petulant posturing over his future has left a sour taste at Real Madrid.
While his team-mates were celebrating a record-stretching 13th European crown, earned after a gutsy 3-1 victory over Liverpool, Ronaldo was casting doubt over his commitment to the club.
“It was very nice to be in Madrid,” said Ronaldo, who was told it sounded like he was saying goodbye.
“In the next few days I will give an answer to the fans,” he replied. “Because they have always been by my side.”
For months, Ronaldo and his representatives have been wrangling with Real over a new deal, as the Portugese reportedly seeks to surpass Lionel Messi at Barcelona and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain as the highest paid player in the world.
Florentino Perez’s resistance has offended Ronaldo, who has implied several times all is not well in their relationship. His latest referencing of the support of the club’s fans, as opposed to the hierarchy, has been interpreted as another dart aimed at Real’s president.
When Ronaldo’s comments were put to Perez on Saturday night, he expressed annoyance at their timing and appeared to brush off the possibility of a departure.
“Do not ask me these things the day we are celebrating a Champions League title like today,” Perez said.
“Everyone has the right to speak but here the important thing is the club, that we are all celebrating this title. Cristiano was happy, is happy and remains happy. He is under contract.”
Zidane was not in the mood to indulge.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Zidane said. “I am thinking about what we are doing now, the game, what we have achieved. On Cristiano, we will see later. He has to stay, yes or yes.”
Reports in the Spanish press on Sunday say Real’s players were also vexed by Ronaldo diverting attention from the team’s third consecutive Champions League success. Sergio Ramos was among those to make his feeling known to the 33-year-old in the changing room.
“Cristiano will not find a better place,” Ramos said.
Even Real’s fans appear to be unimpressed, with a poll on the website of Madrid daily, Marca, asking if the club should make a special effort to keep Ronaldo. After more than 25,000 votes, 65 per cent said no.
‘CR7 Champions League’
There would certainly seem to have been an element of sulkiness in Ronaldo’s assessment, coming so soon after the final whistle. He had not scored and the final had been decided by the brilliance of Gareth Bale, who scored twice, the first with a stunning bicycle kick.
When this was put to him, Ronaldo replied: “Maybe the Champions League should change its name to the CR7 Champìons League.”
“Who has more Champìons League titles and more goals?” he asked.
Ronaldo finished five clear at the top of the tournament’s scoring list with 15 goals and in April broke a Champions League record by scoring in his 10th successive match.
Even though Ronaldo is 33, it is hard to imagine the likes of PSG and Manchester United not jumping at the chance to poach such a powerful asset, on and off the pitch.
But, separation remains the less likely scenario and in the meantime, Ronaldo has served only to irritate those around him.
“If Ronaldo has learned anything in his years in Madrid, it is that sadness, like euphoria, lasts a week in this club,” wrote Marca on Sunday.
“The week after, the club comes back to compete and fight again to win, to win Champions League titles. Let’s see where Cristiano goes to win as many Champions League trophies as he has at Real Madrid.”
Seattle Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor, speaking publicly for the first time since he suffered a career-threatening neck injury last season, said he wants to continue playing if his health permits.
“If my body says I can play, I’m playing,” he told 13News Now in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, before repeating that line. “If my body says don’t play, I’m not playing. I’ll listen. I’m a very good listener.”
The 30-year-old Chancellor added: “I don’t see myself as old. I feel like I’m still in my prime, so it’s not an age thing at all. It’s just a matter of structural issues in the neck and if they change or not.”
Kam Chancellor’s future is still up in the air following a neck injury he suffered last season. Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports
Avril, who also suffered a serious neck injury last season, was released by the Seahawks earlier this month with a failed-physical designation.
While updates from the team on Chancellor’s status have been infrequent, general manager John Schneider said before the draft that he was scheduled to have a scan in late June or early July that would provide some clarity to his future. In an apparent reference to that scheduled scan, Chancellor later wrote on Instagram, “After this exam, God will direct me on which way to go. He always has, always will. I listen, and I follow.”
With Chancellor’s future up in the air, Bradley McDougald is projected to start at safety for Seattle alongside Earl Thomas. Seattle signed McDougald to a three-year deal in March after he made seven starts for the team in 2017, including the final seven for Chancellor at strong safety.
Chancellor signed a three-year, $36 million extension last summer. His $6.8 million base salary for 2018 became fully guaranteed in February.
Chancellor’s comments came during his annual event in Norfolk, Bam Bam’s Spring Jam. According to the station, this year’s event raised $10,000 in scholarship money for his alma mater, Maury High School.
