UEFA has banned Manchester City from European competition for 2 years after being found guilty of club licensing and financial fair play and the English club has also been issued a £25 million fine.
Manchester City has been found guilty of “overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to Uefa between 2012 and 2016″ as well as failing to “cooperate in the investigation” according to The independent Adjudicatory Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB).
A statement from the club was issued stating the following:
“The club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position.
“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. The club has formally complained to the Uefa disciplinary body, a complaint which was validated by a CAS ruling.
“Simply put, this is a case initiated by Uefa, prosecuted by Uefa and judged by Uefa. With this prejudicial process now over, the club will pursue an impartial judgment as quickly as possible and will, therefore, in the first instance, commence proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the earliest opportunity.”
In 2018 German newspaper Der Spiegel published an article exposing leaked documents from hacked email accounts of clubs and agents.
The documents published showed that Manchester City had inflated its revenue from sponsorship deals breaching financial fair play stipulations and this led to an investigation by UEFA.
Manchester City will be appealing the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport as they seek to have the judgment reversed in order to avoid going through the next 2 years without any possibility of winning a Champions League title or any other European competition.
