English club, Manchester City has been banned by European
football governing body, UEFA, for two years and hit with a £25m fine.
ManCity, coached by Pep Guardiola and owned by Sheikh
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, were found guilty
by Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) of falsely inflating their
sponsorship revenues to make it look like the club was making more money than
it was spending on player purchase, when submitting financial accounts as part
of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) compliance process.
FFP was formed by UEFA to prevent European clubs from
spending more money than they make as income.
With FFP, European clubs stopped overspending on player
wages, restricting the amount owners are able to use of their own cash to cover
losses.
With this new ban, Man City will now be suspended from any
UEFA European competition for the next two seasons.
Man City have announced that they will appeal the case with
the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
The verdict passed by FIFA follows an investigation that
after German magazine Der Spiegel “leaked” emails and documents in November
2018 alleging Man City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan was mostly
funding the £67.5m-a-year sponsorship of the club’s shirts, stadium and academy
via Etihad airline.
A statement from the club on Friday said: “Manchester City
is disappointed but not surprised by today’s announcement by the UEFA
Adjudicatory Chamber. 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.”
