Galatasaray will not be allowed to play in the Champions League or the Europa League in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons having failed to comply with Uefa’s settlement terms.
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“We took it down to just one year”, he said, adding that Galatasaray’s task this season was to win the right to participate in UEFA competitions.
The Lions made £122.6 million in revenues over the 2014-15 season but financial mismanagement resulted in the club falling into trouble with UEFA.
“The Turkish club has also been ordered to limit the overall aggregate cost of employee benefits expenses of all of its players in each of the next two reporting periods” for 2016 and 2017, UEFA said.
Turkish broadcaster NTV on Wednesday reported that Gala had been handed the ban after they failed to comply with the European governing body’s rules governing the permitted levels of financial losses.
In a lesser case, UEFA also fined Galatasaray €200,000 ($217,000) and required the club to break even on soccer-related trading over a three-year period.
Finishing in that position would leave Galatasaray outside the qualifying places for next season’s Champions League and Europa League.
The reigning Turkish champions now sit fifth in the league, within touching distance of Konyaspor and Istanbul BB ahead of them but a full 14 and 16 points behind Besiktas and Fenerbahce respectively at the top of the table.
UEFA can hold over bans to subsequent seasons.
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They dropped into the Europa League but lost to Lazio at the last-32 stage.
