UEFA to wait for conclusion of Manchester City’s Premier League case — Sky Sports News
UEFA is monitoring the development of Manchester City’s disciplinary case in the English Premier League and will wait for its conclusion before deciding on possible measures of its own against the club. This was reported by Sky Sports News.
Independent commission’s decision
An independent commission found the club guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The established breaches include five instances of non-compliance with UEFA Financial Fair Play rules.
According to the commission’s findings, Manchester City’s owners injected £830 million of their own funds over nine seasons, disguising them as sponsorship income. The commission also concluded that the club entered into fictitious agreements with some commercial partners to artificially increase revenue and submitted accounts that concealed the true state of its finances.
The club’s position and appeal
Manchester City has filed an appeal and denies any wrongdoing. In a statement, the club said it has a body of irrefutable evidence to support its position and described the findings as containing material errors of law, principle and fact.
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Under Premier League rules introduced this season, the appeal stage must be completed within 12 weeks, and hearings may not last more than five days in a single block. At the same time, the club’s lawyers may argue that the expedited rules should not apply to the case because the charges were brought in 2023 and the hearings took place in 2024.
Previous UEFA proceedings
In 2014, Manchester City reached a settlement agreement with UEFA that included a £49 million fine, of which £32 million was conditionally suspended. In 2020, UEFA fined the club €30 million and banned it from European competitions for two years, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban.
At the time, the court said UEFA had not proven that owners’ contributions had been disguised as sponsorship payments, and that some of the breaches were time-barred. The fine was reduced to €10 million because of the club’s insufficient cooperation with the investigation. UEFA has a five-year limitation period for financial breaches, while the Premier League has no such restriction.
