Manchester City’s two-year Champions League ban lifted; football world reacts on Twitter

Sakal Times Sports Desk
04.00 PM

The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Manchester City’s appeal against the UEFA (European Football Associations) ban

The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Manchester City’s appeal against the UEFA (European Football Associations) ban and has imposed a 10 million euro ($11.3 million) fine for deteriorating to cooperate with investigators.

Earlier, the football association penalised Man City in February for ‘serious breaches’ of rules monitoring club finances and waning to cooperate with investigators. The allegations included that the English club, owned by Abu Dhabi’s royal family, hoodwinked UEFA over many years to meet financial integrity rules known as Financial Fair Play required to enter European club competitions.

Man City denied offence and said it had ‘irrefutable evidence’ the dues were not true. The published sign seemed to show City betrayed UEFA by overplaying sponsorship deals from 2012-16 and concealed the source of revenue linked to companies in Abu Dhabi. The club never disputed the documents were true but argued the evidence was stolen and reported out of context.

In a statement released UEFA said: “UEFA takes note of the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce the sanction imposed on Manchester City FC by UEFA’s independent Club Financial Control Body for alleged breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations.

UEFA states that the CAS panel found that there was insufficient conclusive evidence to defend all of the CFCB’s (Club Financial Control Body) conclusions in this specific case and that many of the unproven breaches were time-barred due to the five-year time period predicted in the UEFA regulations.

After the verdict, the club wrote, “Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisors are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Club welcomes the implications of today’s 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.”

Soon after the decision was made, netizens had plenty to say about the court's decision on Twitter. Many football experts and fans appealed that the decision raises questions about the genuineness of UEFA's rule.

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