A Manchester City UEFA ban has been canceled on appeal. The club was previously accused of breaching the financial fair play (FFP) rules over the period from 2012 to 2016.
What for?
The UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) started its investigation after noticing the article released in 2018 in a German magazine called “Der Spiegel”. The article said that Manchester City was seriously violating the FFP rules by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016.
The accusation was based on the leaked emails provided by an anonymous whistleblower who later turned out to be a Portuguese hacker charged with 147 criminal offenses in his home country. The Manchester City managers have stated that the information was “hacked or stolen” and taken out of context but the investigation by CFCB has already started.
The result
On 14 February Manchester City was found guilty and sentenced to a 2-season ban from the Champions League and was also fined €30 million. Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano said that the allegations are not true, and they have always been operating legally. The club boss Pep Guardiola also said that they are not giving up on this and are going to appeal as a club.
The appeal
The Manchester City appeal was submitted to The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and it took careful consideration of the whole evidence regarding the breach of the rules. After its own investigation, CAS has determined that there was insufficient conclusive evidence to uphold all of the CFCB’s conclusions regarding the rules violation.
The ban was completely lifted according to the decision issued on the 13 of July and the fine was reduced from €30 million to €10 million because it was proven that Manchester City hasn`t indeed cooperated with the UEFA Authorities during the investigation.
Conclusion
6-times Premier League champion Manchester United F.C. has coped with the pressure caused by the rules breach accusations. The charges were quite controversial, and Manchester City could finally prove their innocence to the FFP rules though they still have to pay €10 million fine.
Also, you can read about Trouble for Manchester City.
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