MANCHESTER: Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City has stated it would appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the ruling announced Friday by UEFA that bars the Premier League champions from competing in its club competitions (Champions League and Europa League) for two seasons – 2020/21 and 2021/22.
European football’s continental governing body has also slapped a €30 million fine on the Premier League giants for committing “serious breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016”.
Soon after, Manchester City, acquired by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan in 2008, issued the following 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.
“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.”
As regards City’s options in building a case for itself, it will likely use the outcome of a similar investigation brought against Paris Saint-Germain – another Gulf money funded European super club – as a reference point. The case against France’s Lique 1 champions, owned by Qatar Sports Investments (Qatar’s sovereign fund), was dismissed as it was determined that the club’s sponsorships more or less corroborated the value that PSG declared, contrary to what an independent valuation had suggested.
UEFA statement on the Manchester City ban in full:
“Following a hearing held on 22 January 2020 the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), chaired by José da Cunha Rodrigues, has today (Friday) notified Manchester City Football Club of the final decision on the case which was referred by the CFCB Chief Investigator.
“The Adjudicatory Chamber, having considered all the evidence, has found that Manchester City Football Club committed serious breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016.
“The Adjudicatory Chamber has also found that in breach of the regulations the Club failed to cooperate in the investigation of this case by the CFCB.
“The Adjudicatory Chamber has imposed disciplinary measures on Manchester City Football Club directing that it shall be excluded from participation in UEFA club competitions in the next two seasons (ie. the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons) and pay a fine of € 30 million.
“The decision of the Adjudicatory Chamber is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). If Manchester City Football Club exercises that right the full reasoned decision of the Adjudicatory Chamber will not be published prior to publication of the final award by the CAS.”
Indian Express further reports:
What’s the offence?
The UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) have found City guilty of inflating their sponsorship revenue by deception. It follows an investigation that had been initiated after German magazine Der Spiegel published ‘leaked’ emails and documents. As per the allegation, City’s billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour was sharing the bulk of the £67.5 million-a-year sponsorship of the club shirts, stadium, and academy via Abu Dhabi’s Etihad airline. It has been alleged that just £8 million of the sponsorship was directly funded by Etihad. The CFCB have found City guilty of misrepresenting the true sources of sponsorship income.
Who was the whistleblower?
Rui Pinto, a Portuguese hacker, gained access to club emails and sent them to the press. The 31-year-old is currently in prison at Lisbon for the Football Leaks scandal, but it was his hard work that ‘exposed’ City.
