European soccer’s top financial investigators have recommended excluding the storied Italian club A.C. Milan from continental competition for violating rules that limit spending, according to two people involved in the process.

A final decision on whether UEFA, the governing body of soccer in Europe, banishes Milan, a seven-time European champion, from participating in the Europa League is due in early June. But after scrutinizing the club’s finances for several months, UEFA announced last week that the club had failed to convince officials that it is on sound financial footing and referred the case to the adjudicatory chamber of its financial control unit to recommend an appropriate punishment.

A ban from continental competition is now likely, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is continuing and they were not authorized to speak about it publicly. It would serve as the latest indignity for a club once considered soccer royalty, and another bellwether for a deepening crisis in Italian soccer.

Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 for the first time since 1958. An emergency president is running the national federation. In early May, Serie A, the country’s top league, was forced to scrap a new $1 billion television contract amid antitrust complaints.