City overturn European ban after appeal to CAS

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, City appealed to CAS and it lifted the suspension yesterday, 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 timebarred”. 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 €30 million 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.

The system is intended to ensure clubs only spend what they earn, to ensure their long-term viability. CAS said its final award and the reasons would be published in the next few days. Laliga president Javier Tebas, pictured, said the decision proved CAS was “not up to standard”. “We have to reassess whether the CAS is the appropriate body to which to appeal institutional decisions in football,” he said. The Premier League opened its own investigation into allegations of FFP breaches against City in March last year. It had no comment to make on that probe yesterday.