Manchester City’s two-year ban from Champions League lifted
Manchester City’s two-year ban from European football has been overturned by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), it said this morning.
The decision means it will compete in next season’s Champions League, providing a major financial boon for the team’s by Abu Dhabi-controlled owner City Football Group.
CAS ruled that Manchester City did not breach financial fair play (FFP) rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship.
The court also reduced a fine for failing to cooperate with UEFA to €10m, down from €30m.
“Most of the alleged breaches reported by the (UEFA) Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB were either not established or time-barred,” CAS said in a statement.
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, had ruled in February that City had committed serious FFP breaches and failed to cooperate with its investigation.
Missing out on the Champions League would have cost City, which has denied wrongdoing, as much as £100m in prize money and broadcast revenue, as well as match-day and other revenues.
The FFP regulations are designed to stop clubs running up big losses through spending on players.
They also ensure sponsorship deals are based on their real market value and are genuine commercial agreements — and not ways for owners to pump cash into a club to get around the rules.
CAS said its full ruling would be published in the coming days.
“Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisors are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club welcomes the implications of today’s ruling as a validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present,” Manchester City said in a statement.
UEFA said it remained committed to FFP.
“UEFA notes that the CAS panel found that there was insufficient conclusive evidence to uphold all of the CFCB’s conclusions in this specific case and that many of the alleged breaches were time-barred due to the five-year time period foreseen in the UEFA regulations,” it said in a statement.
“Over the last few years, financial fair play has played a significant role in protecting clubs and helping them become financially sustainable and UEFA and [the European Club Association] remain committed to its principles.”