Monday, June 26, 2023 at 10:31 PM• Martin van Mourik

Three board members of Toulouse have resigned because of a possible conflict of interest, it reports Football International Monday night. Last season’s winner of the Coupe de France qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, but because the club is owned by the same owner as AC Milan, UEFA cannot guarantee Toulouse’s European participation.

The American investment fund RedBird owns both AC Milan and Toulouse. As UEFA regulations state that there is no place in European tournaments for two clubs under the same ownership to conflicts of interest to prevent. Since the Milanese will certainly play in the Champions League, Toulouse may not be able to play on the European stage.

After all, UEFA has still not confirmed that Toulouse will participate in the Europa League next season. In order to send out a good signal and to remove all members of the board of directors who are directly connected to RedBird, it hopes to get the green light from UEFA soon. At an earlier stage, RedBird owner Gerry Cardinale already distanced himself from all involvement with the number thirteen of last Ligue 1 season, while Alec Scheiner, Isaac Halyard and Niraj Shah have now also left. It is as yet unclear when the European federation will come up with a decision.

Thanks to the resounding 1-5 victory over FC Nantes in the final of the French Cup, Toulouse surprisingly managed to secure a direct ticket for the group stage of the Europa League. Thijs Dallinga was accurate twice, while Zakaria Aboukhlal also scored. The midfield block was formed in the final battle by Stijn Spierings and Branco van den Boomen, who have since left for RC Lens and Ajax respectively.