CITY PEACE TALKS WITH UEFA
Etihad supremo arranges chat to end the feud
PEACE talks have been held between UEFA’s president and Manchester City’s chairman in the wake of the bitter battle between the pair.
Sportsmail can reveal that, following City’s victory over the governing body which saw their two-year European ban lifted on Monday, Aleksander Ceferin and Khaldoon Al Mubarak held clear-the-air talks.
It is understood that the conversation — initiated by Al Mubarak — went well, with both men committed to ushering in a new era of friendship after what has been an incredibly hostile period between the two sides.
The dispute between the pair was settled in the Premier League club’s favour at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In February this year, UEFA issued the ban and fined City
€30 million (£26.9m) for what they claimed were ‘serious breaches’ of their Financial Fair Play regulations.
However, City immediately launched an appeal and were successful when CAS found there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegations and that some of them were ‘time-barred’ as they fell outside the five-year limit. City’s fine was reduced to €10m (£9m) for a failure to co-operate with UEFA’s investigation, but the verdict was viewed as a resounding success for Pep Guardiola’s club. Sources in Switzerland disclosed that Al Mubarak initiated the contact within hours of Monday’s verdict. What followed was a ‘cordial conversation’, according to insiders. The call was said to be ‘positive’, with both parties expressing a ‘keen desire to work closely together going forward’. City fans have consistently booed the UEFA anthem before Champions League matches amid a strong feeling the club was being persecuted by the governing body. City were first punished by UEFA in 2014, when they were fined £49m, with £32m suspended, after being found to have breached FFP rules. Within the Etihad Stadium, officials are keen to ensure they are seen as humble, despite their landmark win. While at this stage it is only words, there is a view held on both sides that the relationship needs to be repaired.