It had been long coming, but finally the UEFA informed of their decision to ban Manchester City from the UEFA governed competition Champions League due to breach in UEFA’s FFP (Financial Fair Play) rules.
City officials had known of the investigation since the leaks in communications suggested that Manchester City and their partner organization had falsified reports on the incomes of the club in order to comply with the regulations set by the UEFA. As usual, the official statement from Manchester City, released only minutes after UEFA’s ruling, insisted on no wrongdoing and confirmed that the club will take the issue to Court of Arbitration of Sports and will impose impartial investigation. City also stated their discomfort with the way the investigation had been conducted and claimed they were decided to be guilty before the investigation had even started. Be as it may, City are in hot water despite the ruling of the CAS later on and they had been already fined for some £50M on 2014 for similar reasons.
If City’s ban is upheld and the club indeed judged guilty of tampering of their books and therefore breaking the FFP regulations, the repercussions could range to Premier League as well. The EPL has similar, if not exactly the same, Financial Fair Play rules in place and if the findings of the investigation are incriminating City might face a hefty punishment from the EPL, possibly even relegation from the top flight.
City’s ban was welcomed by many as there had been plenty of allegations of shady business and the investigations are ongoing regarding a couple of major European clubs as well, namely PSG. For EPL clubs City’s ban means that most likely the fifth placed team this season will get to play in the Champions League, as City is currently second and likely to stay in the top four, which are the EPL Champions League seeding this season. Hunting for that fifth spot, which suddenly became much more attractive are the likes of Tottenham, Wolves, Everton and Manchester United – and currently held by Sheffield United.
