City reel from Europe ban and face points deduction
Uefa acts against club over payment breaches Premier League could also impose penalty
Manchester City were given an unprecedented two-year ban from the Champions League last night in a Uefa financial fair play verdict that stunned the football world.
Pep Guardiola will consider his future as manager in the summer, The Daily Telegraph understands, unless the club are able to overturn a verdict which condemns “serious breaches” in payments by executives. The Premier League champions announced immediate plans to appeal last night after being left reeling by the punishment, which is to come into effect next season.
The City players, many of whom were returning from their winter break last night, are set to attend crisis talks with chief executive officer Ferran Soriano today, The Telegraph understands.
City are also facing the threat of a points deduction by the Premier League. Clubs have to supply true information to get a Premier League licence and it must match that which Uefa receives.
Uefa, which also fined City €30million (£25million), had been investigating the club for more than a year since an alleged deception caught the governing body’s eye following revelations in the Football Leaks scandal. Documents first published in the German magazine Der Spiegel suggested almost £60 million had been paid directly into the club by their billionaire Arab owners, but declared as sponsorship.
The Telegraph had disclosed more than a year ago that Uefa was considering a one-year ban, but it would appear to have been doubled in recent months over the club’s perceived lack of cooperation.
In a brief statement, Uefa said the punishment was based on “serious breaches of the Uefa Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to Uefa between 2012 and 2016”.
The punishment was issued by Uefa’s adjudicatory chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) which the governing body insists is “independent”.
“The adjudicatory chamber has also found that in breach of the regulations the club failed to cooperate in the investigation of this case by the CFCB,” a statement added.
City, who previously failed in a pre-emptive attempt to get the case thrown out at the Court of Arbitration
for Sport (CAS) last year, responded last night with a blistering attack on Uefa. Executives said they were “disappointed but not surprised” by the announcement.
“In December 2018, the Uefa chief investigator publicly previewed the outcome and sanction he intended to be delivered to Manchester City, before any investigation had even begun.
“The subsequent flawed and consistently leaked Uefa process he oversaw has meant that there was little doubt in the result that he would deliver. Simply put, this is a case initiated by Uefa, prosecuted by Uefa and judged by Uefa. ”
The ruling takes a sledgehammer to the club’s ambitions of European domination and will prompt immediate doubts over the future of City’s manager and star players.
Despite Liverpool racing away to this year’s Premier League title, Guardiola had repeatedly insisted he would remain at the club next season.
However, following last night’s verdict, sources close to the manager said he was in a “state of shock” and will now “evaluate” his plans at the end of the season if the ban is not overturned within the next three months.
“It’s stay calm and carry on for now,” a source close to the Spaniard said. “Pep will not decide now what he’s going to do. Nobody expected this. We are genuinely shocked by this punishment.”
Recriminations between City and Uefa will escalate in the coming months. The club had already demanded damages over “leaks” by Uefa as part of their pre-emptive appeal. Documents from the previous hearings revealed a bitter fallout with chief financial investigator, Yves Leterme, after he publicly supported a suspension.
The club took its first appeal to CAS last year, claiming the investigatory committee of CFCB had conducted “unlawful activities”. Uefa, the club said, should then pay “damages to be assessed for losses incurred as a result of the respondent’s conduct”.
City’s case was thrown out by the Swiss court in November. According to the CAS documents, Leterme responded to City’s complaints by writing: “Your allegations are groundless in the merits and unacceptable in tone.”
Uefa said the decision was announced to the relevant parties during a hearing held on Jan 22.
“The FFP regulations, introduced in 2010-11, were aimed at dampening players’ wage inflation and encouraging European clubs not to make huge losses,” said a Uefa statement.