KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Milan veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic has escaped a ban for holding a financial stake in a Malta-based betting company.

Instead the 39-year-old has been fined €50,000 by UEFA for breaching the European football federation’s disciplinary regulations. He has also been ordered to cut all tie with the operation.

Milan have also been warned and fined €25,000 for turning a blind eye to Ibrahimovic’s activities.

Reports first emerged early in April that Ibrahimovic risked a three-year ban over his connections since March 2018 with the Bethard company.

He always insisted that he hadbeen only a brand ambassador for a “company [which has] Swedish roots, the founders are from my home town and they are true challengers who really wants to do things differently.”

Ibrahimovic had hoped to end his national team retirement by leading Sweden’s attack at the Euro 2020 finals.

He had scored a record 62 goals in 116 internationals before quitting after Sweden’s Euro 2016 group-stage exit. In March he returned to duty, providing one assist in a 1-0 victory over Georgia and another in a 3-0 win over Kosovo.

A knee injury suffered against Juventus in Turin then ended his Euro dreams.

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