Premier League giants Manchester City have been banned from participating in the Champions League for two seasons and the club have been handed a fine of 30 million euros.
The decision was announced on Friday evening and has taken the footballing world by storm. UEFA found that the club had seriously misled the continent’s governing body and had broken the rule set down by Financial Fair Play.
This finding comes from an investigation after Der Spiegel had leaked documents and emails at the end of 2018.
According to reports, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body found that City had falsely inflated their sponsorship revenues which were made as part of the FFP declarations.
The Manchester club, who face Real Madrid in the Last 16 of this season’s premiere club competition, have always strongly denied any wrongdoing with regards to this FFP investigation. They have held the stance that the information released by Der Spiegel was taken out of context.
Following the news of the sanctions, Manchester City have responded with a statement confirming that they will appeal. The full statement reads:
‘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.’
