CAN BE IN IT LONG HAUL

Liverpool next season. The City manager had spent the past few months instilling a huge confidence and belief in his squad that the club’s appeal would be successful.

Now he has been proved right and the news could well provide the team with the sort of boost that could propel them to new heights in the coming weeks.

City might have conceded their Premier League crown to Jurgen Klopp’s men, but another treble haul of trophies is on the agenda.

Having bagged the Carabao Cup in February,

Guardiola’s men are now closing in on another FA Cup triumph as well as the ‘Holy Grail’ of the Champions League.

Had City lost their appeal, they could have found themselves in the remarkable situation of going on to win the competition this season then not being able to defend it.

But thankfully for them the appeal was won and now it will be full steam ahead for Guardiola and his superstars as they relish the chance to continue doing what they do best – winning trophies. for Sport, the club welcomes the implications of the ruling as a validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present.

“The Club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered.”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced the club were cleared of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions”.

CAS also reduced City’s fine from £27m to just £9m for failing to cooperate with the investigation.

The UEFA ban was overturned partly because some of the alleged offences dated back to 2012 – which made them out of time under UEFA’S own regulations.

City chairman Khaldoon Al-mubarak will now be desperate to tie Guardiola down to a contract extension with his current one due to run out in 12 months.

Meanwhile, UEFA said they ‘noted’ the CAS decision but were determined to ‘stick to their principles’ regarding Financial Fair Play.