Dear Mr Olsson,
I am writing to express my concern and disappointment at UEFA's decision to admit AC Milan into the 2006/2007 Champions League competition, despite the club being found guilty of attempting to influence domestic fixtures improperly.
While I acknowledge that UEFA were deeply reluctant to admit AC Milan, there appears to be a distinct lack of consistency between the absence of a ban decision here, despite the guilt of the club itself, and the robust decision taken in 1985 to ban English clubs for several years, despite the lack of guilt of the clubs themselves (even clubs with no history of hooliganism among their supporters were banned).
The "insufficient legal basis in the regulations" to ban AC Milan from the Champions League appears, in this light, to be a surprising conclusion which will do great harm to the reputation of the game.
If I can play devil's advocate, what would UEFA's response have been had the Italian Football Federation not banned Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina from playing in UEFA competition, despite their guilt in the improper influence of domestic fixtures? Would UEFA have simply accepted their participation in the Champions League?
This is not the first occasion Milan have been involved in a match-fixing scandal yet UEFA's decision to allow them to play in this season's competition means the club has effectively escaped punishment.
A UEFA statement said: "The club has obviously not yet properly perceived the troubles it is in and the damage it already caused to European Football." A similar accusation could equally be made at UEFA for failing to ban AC Milan from European competition.
I would further point out that the Italian Football Federation have rightly stripped Juventus of the titles it won over the last two years. If the periods of match fixing covered any of the years in which Juventus, Lazio or AC Milan won a European trophy, UEFA should take similar action and strip them of the titles they "won".
Indeed, UEFA should investigate not just the recent period, but past events in which match fixing may have played a role, even as far back as AC Milan's win over Leeds United in the 1973 Cup Winners' Cup final - a match in which the performance of referee Christos Michas was deemed so dubious he was suspended. Such action would visibly and dramatically demonstrate UEFA's commitment to fair play and to taking breaches of it seriously.
Failure to take visible action that demonstrates clearly to clubs, fans and the wider public that cheating will not succeed will leave football vulnerable to a slow corrosion of confidence in the game that will undermine its future.
Best wishes,
Richard Corbett MEP
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