- Title: Manchester City's ban from European football overturned
- Date: 13th July 2020
- Summary: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 13, 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MANCHESTER CITY'S ETIHAD STADIUM CLUB BADGE AND ETIHAD STADIUM SIGN ON EXTERIOR OF STADIUM CLUB BADGE BUS DRIVING PAST SIGN SAYING (English): "WELCOME TO MANCHESTER CITY" CLUB BADGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY FAN, OLI REYNOLDS, SAYING: "It's amazing. I never thought it was going to happen. I thought we were out. For two years as well. We were going to have players leaving and so, but we're back at it now." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN RAIN EXTERIOR OF BUILDING IN MANCHESTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY FAN, ETHAN ROBINSON, SAYING: "One of the best in the world at the minute. It'll persuade players to stay and other players to come to us or persuade Pep to stay. So, yeah it's pretty good." VARIOUS OF TRAM GOING PAST DELIVERY MAN ON (SOUNDBITE) (English) CELTIC FAN, LUKE SETH, SAYING: "I don't think it's very fair for football. I think it's really hard to get into the Champions League for a lot of teams anyway. I think the position you've been in, I don't think it's very fair that they don't need to serve some ban. Especially with like the money they've spent and it's not very fair. Financial Fair Play isn't really a thing. If they don't need to serve it yet, me as a Celtic fan, my team probably would because they wouldn't have the money to overturn it. I don't think it's very fair." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED FAN, CHRIS O'CONNOR, SAYING: "It just shows Financial Fair Play, may as well scrap it. It's not what it was brought in to do, to make things fair. The big teams with money can get away with it and that's all it's proven and what's it? Nine million pounds, ten-million euro fine. It's nothing for City, it's a drop in the water. PSG, same again and either big clubs, even if they would have kept their full fine (of) 30-million euros, still drop in the ocean for these teams. So, it just shows that you can get away with it if you fiddle in your books a little bit. It's not helping the smaller teams out and the bigger teams can just carry on cheating." TRAM GOING PAST
- Embargoed: 27th July 2020 16:28
- Keywords: CAS Champions League Chelsea Europe Frank Lampard Manchester City Soccer UCL UEFA ban
- Location: MANCHESTER; STOKE D'ABERNON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: MANCHESTER; STOKE D'ABERNON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001CMN8AWV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Manchester City's two-year suspension from European football was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday (July 13), allowing the club to compete in next season's elite Champions League competition.
CAS ruled that City did not breach Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship. Sport's highest court also reduced a fine for failing to cooperate with UEFA to 10 million euros ($11.30 million) from 30 million euros.
European soccer's governing body UEFA ruled in February that City had committed serious FFP breaches and failed to cooperate with its investigation.
Missing out on the Champions League would have cost City, who have denied any wrongdoing, as much as 100 million pounds ($126.02 million) in prize money and broadcast revenue, as well as matchday and other revenues.
The FFP regulations are designed to stop clubs running up big losses through spending on players. They also ensure sponsorship deals are based on their real market value and are genuine commercial agreements - and not ways for owners to pump cash into a club to get around the rules.
CAS said its full legal ruling, with details of the case and the decision, would be published in the coming days.
UEFA had said City had committed "serious breaches" of the FFP rule in information submitted to them between 2012 and 2016.
However, Article 37 of UEFA's own procedural rules covering the CFCB states that "Prosecution is barred after five years for all breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and FFP Rules".
UEFA said it remained committed to FFP.
The decision led Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish league and long-standing critic of City, to question the role of CAS in such decisions.
"We have to reassess whether the CAS is the appropriate body to which to appeal institutional decisions in football. Switzerland is a country with a great history of arbitration, the CAS is not up to standard," he told reporters.
($1 = 0.8846 euros)
($1 = 0.7935 pounds)
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