UEFA fine Zlatan Ibrahimovic and AC Milan for financial ties to betting company
In a statement, UEFA have confirmed that they have fined Zlatan Ibrahimovic €50,000 for his financial ties to a betting company while AC Milan have been fined €25,000 for violating the same. This comes after UEFA opened an investigation into the striker regarding the same allegations.
A week after Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed a one-year extension with AC Milan, which will see him play into his 40s, reports indicated that UEFA were set to investigate the striker. This was following a Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, which had reported that the AC Milan forward is a part-owner of a betting company in Sweden called Bethard and had been since 2018. That goes against FIFA’s rules and their Code of Ethics with breaching it leading to a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs and a potential ban for a maximum of three years.
However, while UEFA did find Ibrahimovic, and AC Milan, guilty of breaching the rules, European football’s governing body have fined the Swede €50,000. Not only that but AC Milan have also been fined, half that amount, with both club and player given stringent instructions to cease any connections with the betting company. No football-related ban has been handed out to either Ibrahimovic or the Rossoneri.
"The Chairman of the UEFA Appeals Body also issued Mr. Ibrahimovic with a directive aimed at ceasing the player's association with the relevant betting company," UEFA said in a statement.