AC Milan have voluntarily accepted a one-year ban from all European competitions for breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), sport's highest court, said on Friday.

As a result, the seven-time European champions will not participate in the 2019-20 Europa League which they qualified for by finishing fifth in the Serie A last season.

Milan's ban means that AS Roma, who finished sixth in the standings, move up to the group stage of Europe's second-tier club competition while their place in the qualifying rounds is taken by seventh-placed Torino.

"CAS has issued a consent award embodying the agreement reached between AC Milan and UEFA concerning breaches of the FFP regulations by the Italian club," the CAS said in a statement.

"AC Milan is excluded from participating in the UEFA club competitions of the sporting season 2019-20 as a consequence of the breach of its FFP break-even obligations during the 2015-17 and the 2016-18 monitoring periods."

Under UEFA regulations any club spending more than the revenue they generate may face sanctions, including a possible ban from the competitions run by the European governing body.

Milan said they had inherited "substantial accumulated losses" from their former owner and had no other choice but to accept the ban and settle the breaches.

U.S. activist fund Elliott took control of the club last year as previous owner, Chinese businessman Li Yonghong, defaulted on his obligations toward the club.

"These losses and the associated violation of FFP rules, as a consequence of actions taken under previous ownership, led to sanctions by UEFA," Milan said in a statement.

"Whilst saddened by the fact that our fans will not be able to see their team compete in European competition next season, the club recognizes and respects FFP."

In April, Milan were reported by UEFA investigators over an alleged new breach of the break-even rule in its most recent monitoring period and the case was passed to its financial adjudicators.

UEFA said the referral was not connected to a previous case against Milan which saw the club banned and reprieved on appeal.