UEFA Bans Manchester City From Champions League, Europa For Two Seasons
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has banned Manchester City from European club competition for the next two seasons after the court found City to have committed “serious breaches” of UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play regulations.
The decision was reached by the court on Friday, where a fine of 30m euros (£25m) accompanied the ban.
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The Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) said City had broken the rules by “overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016.”
The body also said that during the investigation process, City; “failed to cooperate in the investigation”.
According to reports, Pep Guardiola’s City could also face a Premier League points deduction, as the English League Financial Fair Play rules are similar to EUFA’s
The punishment does not apply to City’s women’s division.
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Reacting, City said in a statement: “The club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position.
“In December 2018, the UEFA chief investigator publicly previewed the outcome and sanction he intended to be delivered to Manchester City, before any investigation had even begun.
“The subsequent flawed and consistently leaked UEFA process he oversaw has meant that there was little doubt in the result that he would deliver. The club has formally complained to the Uefa disciplinary body, a complaint which was validated by a CAS ruling.
“Simply put, this is a case initiated by UEFA, prosecuted by UEFA and judged by UEFA. With this prejudicial process now over, the club will pursue an impartial judgment as quickly as possible and will therefore, in the first instance, commence proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the earliest opportunity.”
La Liga President Javier Tebas praised the decision of UEFA for taking a decisive action against malpractice.
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“Enforcing the rules of financial fair play and punishing financial doping is essential for the future of football,” he said.
“For years we have been calling for severe action against Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, we finally have a good example of action and hope to see more,” he said.
The Allegation Against City
UEFA commenced an investigation after a German newspaper- Der Spiegel published leaked documents in November 2018.
The document alleged that the Premier League Champions had inflated the value of a sponsorship deal, thereby misleading UEFA.
According to reports, City deliberately published the misleading account to meet FFP rules which requiresclubs to break even.
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What are the FFP rules?
UEFA introduced the Financial Fair Play to prevent clubs in its competitions from spending more than their earnings and stamp out “financial doping” within football.
The sanction for breach set by the CFCB include; warnings, fines, withholding prize money, transfer bans, points deductions, a ban on registration of new players and a restriction on the number of players Uefa will allow the club to present during its competitions- UEFA Champions League and the Europa League Cup.
City were drawn to play Real Madrid in the last 16 of the 2019/2020 Champions League, with the first leg to be played on 26 February at the Bernabeu.
