By Adedapo Adesanya
– Handed €30m Fine
– May also face point deduction in the English Premier League.
– To be Absent from 2020/21 and 2021/22 Tournaments
Current English Premier League champions, Manchester City Football Club, have been banned from competing in the European competitions, including the prestigious UEFA Champions League for two years.
The decision was made by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which also asked the footballing outfit to pay a fine of €30 million (£25 million or $33 million) for breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Following an investigation, the Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) found the Premier League club guilty of overstating its sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016.
UEFA’s said in a statement that, “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.”
However, a response from Manchester City claimed that UEFA made the decision even before the investigation had started.
“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,” the club, which currently trails Liverpool on the EPL log, said on its website on Friday.
With this, Manchester City are now also facing a possible Premier League points deduction, as their punishment for serious breaches of UEFA Financial Fair Play also represents a breach of the domestic competition’s regulations.
The issue comes because any club has to supply true information to get a Premier League licence, and that information will have had to have matched that supplied to UEFA.
