City granted reprieve as Uefa ban is overturned

MANCHESTER City have been cleared to play in next season’s Champions League by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

City were handed a two-year ban from European competition in February after Uefa’s club financial control body (CFCB) found they had breached club licensing and Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. The CFCB said they had overstated sponsorship revenue in their accounts and in the break-even information submitted to Uefa for the period between 2012 and 2016.

However, CAS lifted the suspension, as it found City had not disguised equity funding as sponsorship and that most of the allegations against them were “either not established or were time-barred”.

It did find they had breached Article 56 of the club licensing and FFP regulations by failing to co-operate with the CFCB’S investigation. The club’s initial €30m fine imposed by the CFCB was reduced to €10m ( just under £9m) by CAS.

City welcomed the news as a “validation” of their position, while Uefa said that it and the European Club Association remain committed to the principles of FFP.

City, whose appeal to CAS was heard over three days last month, issued a statement welcoming “the implications” of the ruling.

The Etihad club’s statement read: “Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisors are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club welcomes the implications of today’s ruling as a validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present.”