Partizan Belgrade banned from European competitions by UEFA

Serbian club Partizan Belgrade has been banned by UEFA, the European football governing body, for three years from the Champions League and Europa League. Partizan have last won the Serbian SuperLiga in 2015, but they failed to comply with the financial regulations set by UEFA as they have broken rules on unpaid debts three times in the past five years. Partizan had received a ban for the same reason in 2013, but back then the ban was just for one year and it was suspended. UEFA added that the club owed around 2.5 million euros to tax authorities in Serbia as of September 2016. Partizan are currently second in the Serbian SuperLiga, six points behind bitter rivals Crvena Zvezda. They were unable to break into the Europa League group stage this season as they were knocked out in the second qualifying round by Polish side Zaglebie Lubin. Partizan Belgrade, founded in 1945, are one of the most successful clubs in the history of Serbian football, with 26 national championships and 13 national cups won. Their best European performance was back in the 1965–66 season, when they reached the final of the European Champions' Cup.