Manchester City, who was sanctioned and handed a two-year European ban, will find out on today whether their appeal against the ban is successful, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced.
City were sanctioned by UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) for breaches of club licensing and financial fair play regulations.
They denied any wrongdoing with their appeal against the punishment, heard over three days, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month.
Now, Manchester City could either be absolved of all charges and the two-year European ban overturned or could be found guilty of deliberately cheating the system and the suspension will stand, shredding the club’s reputation and keeping them out of European competition until 2022-23.
CAS issued a statement on Friday evening which reads: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will announce the decision taken in the arbitration procedure between Manchester City Football Club and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on Monday, 13 July 2020.”
The statement added that the decision would be published on the CAS website at 10.30 am Swiss time.
Manchester City could get a reduced, partially suspended punishment and the Premier League will also be interested in the outcome as their own FFP rules are similar.
The club was insistent that the evidence on which the case was based – thousands of leaked emails – represented an “organised attempt to smear the club” and reacted to their two-year ban by saying the process that led to it was “flawed” and “prejudicial“. So any stain on their reputation would be an embarrassment.
If it is determined they were dishonest and effectively “self–sponsored” by inflating deals beyond their true value as a cover for the additional investment owner Sheikh Mansour was plowing into the club above FFP’s allowable limits, every success City has had since 2008 – and any they achieve in the future – could come with a ‘but’.
On the other hand, should City receive some sort of punishment but it is stated there was no intent to cheat and their breaches were purely technical, the club will feel justified in adopting the stance they have taken and move on with confidence, even if the arguments around them continues to rage.
While it will be too simplistic to judge City purely on the severity of the sporting sanction laid down, the secondary issue, around a squad containing some of the biggest names in the game – managed by the most decorated coach – is virtually all about Europe.
Should Manchester City get sanctioned by UEFA, they could lose their manager, Pep Guardiola, who has already said he will stay for the remainder of his contract, which expires in 2021 and keeping a host of their high profile players could be a difficult task too.
In a scenario where the ban gets reduced to probably a single season, they could put forward a pretty persuasive argument for why all their biggest names should stay where they are.
City’s downfall might be beneficial to struggling teams in the Premier League who still hope for a European berth next season.
It is now only a matter of hours before we learn the verdict.
Well, I’m late to the party. We now know that they won their appeal. So, there…
No champions league football for man city next season. I’m very certain.