Partizan Belgrade banned form European football for three years

Uefa has banned Partizan Belgrade from the Champions League and Europa League for the next three seasons because of unpaid debts.

European football’s governing body said the 2015 Serbian SuperLiga champions had broken rules on unpaid debts three times in the past five years. As of September 2016, the club owed 2.5m euros (£2.17m) in unpaid debts as of September 2016.

Most of the club’s debts were owed to social and tax authorities in Serbia.

Citing ”a remarkably similar set of circumstances” to Partizan’s last debt case in 2013, when it was given a suspended one-year ban from European competitions, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body said only a harsher punishment ”is appropriate and also capable of producing a general deterrent effect.”

Partizan were eliminated from this season’s Europa League in the second qualifying round by Polish side Zaglebie.