Shock claim by Royal insiders IS RANDY ANDY CALLING IN MAN CITY’S LAWYERS?
TROUBLED Royal Prince Andrew is reportedly considering hiring the Manchester City lawyers who got their two-year ban from European club competitions overturned.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced this week that City were cleared of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions”.
Uefa had issued the ban in February after ruling that the club had committed “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
Their fine has been cut from £27m to £9m, and the ruling means City, who are guaranteed to finish second in the Premier League this season, will play in the 2020-21 Champions League.
A Royal insider said: “The Prince was very impressed with the way City’s lawyers handled the case and wondered out loud if maybe they could help him.
“It wasn’t clear if he was being entirely serious but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was already putting out feelers.”
It comes as a poll showed more than half of Americans believe that the Duke of York should be extradited to answer questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a poll shows.
As Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, faced a court hearing in New York yesterday, the U.S. public strongly came out in support of calls to compel the Duke to talk to investigators.
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Prince Andrew said last November that he had been introduced to Epstein by Ms Maxwell. Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 36, has claimed Epstein made her have sex with Andrew three times, once when she was 17.
The Duke has strongly denied the allegation and said that he does not recollect meeting her.
In delivering their ruling on Monday, CAS said City did “fail to cooperate with Uefa authorities” but reversed the decision by Uefa’s club financial control body to ban them.
City said the decision was a “validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present”.
They added: “The club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered.”