Manchester City banned from CL for 2 seasons and fined 30 million euros | CAS - Ban lifted, fined 10 million

Reading between the lines, it looks like Uefa were desperate to pin something on City, so they launched their investigation, City refused to cooperate and Uefa ended up with a bunch of charges which wouldn't stand up in an actual court of law.

Tbh it's always going to be hard to get City bang to rights on the sponsorship thing. It's clearly not legit - just look at the amount Etihad is paying City every year FFS - but, on the surface at least, these Emirati sponsors aren't directly linked to City's owners. There won't be a smoking gun email from Sheikh Mansour saying 'please sponsor us XXX million per year'.

In reality, of course, City's owners don't have to influence companies like Etihad. The companies will sign these sponsorship deals as a favour to the Sheikh, without him having to get involved at all.

This is the real problem where City are concerned. They can enjoy a massive unfair advantage over the rest of the competition without even having to leave a paper-trail.
 
Adam-Utd said:
You'll care once we can't compete for people like Sancho because the oil clubs have unlimited resources.

FFP was the only thing keeping them in check, now they can just +1 whatever we do.
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This is what people don't get.

It's not about us making top 4 this season, it's long term.

City now know they can pay whatever they want to get any player they want. It's going to be mental.
 
TheNewEra said:
The Saudi takeover of Newcastle looks promising then if they can falsify the finances and say it's all within their spending.
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Exactly, no need for any club to be financially honest in any way shape or form.

It's what we all expected to be honest but it's not any less infuriating.
 
Djemba-Djemba said:
This is what people don't get.

It's not about us making top 4 this season, it's long term.

City now know they can pay whatever they want to get any player they want. It's going to be mental.
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Yep. Watch Abramovich get his cheque book out this summer and sign 4/5 players also. They'll be getting whatever they need to fix up for next season, maybe even poach Sancho too
 
What a surprise the corrupt letting the corrupt off the hook, way of the world.

All we can do is concentrate on our house and get that in order, win our games get top 4 and this fraud means a lot less to us anyway, the team that finishes 5th should appeal this though for the good of football but whatever lets make sure thats not us.
 
JohnnyKills said:
Reading between the lines, it looks like Uefa were desperate to pin something on City, so they launched their investigation, City refused to cooperate and Uefa ended up with a bunch of charges which wouldn't stand up in an actual court of law.
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This is how I see it as well.

If so, highly unprofessional from UEFA.
 
Why could Uefa not get a warrant, or whatever form this would take in this scenario, and force City to collaborate if hey had evidence suggesting FFP could play?
 
MikeUpNorth said:
Disappointing.

But FFP is stupid anyway. What kind of industry seeks to prevent inward investment? Let the money flow and get on with it.
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It's not actually an inward investment, the money doesn't flow when City or PSG purchase whoever they want, more often than not it prevents someone else from having access to the money, someone that needs it. And in Sport competitiveness creates value, it's important for a competion organizer to maintain that competitiveness and certain level of homogeneity because it maintains interest. You are not talking about a random industry.
 
Andersonson said:
The 10m fine was for not co-operating. They were cleared of any charges related to breaking FFP.
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It appears that most people commenting don't even understand the case. The whole case was that the owners were injecting money directly not the club and disguising it as sponsorship money. CAS have vindicated them and the fine is NOT for breaking FFP rules, but for NOT co-operating with UEFA's investigation.

If anything, this shows incompetency and perhaps an agenda from UEFA. Every sponsorship deal with ties to the owner is investigated by UEFA, as per their FFP rules. Any deal found not to be fair market value will be adjusted to fall in line with it. Sponsorships cannot be inflated.
 
Rolaholic said:
Congrats to Newcastle on winning the 2022 Premier League and 2023 Champions League
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This is the thing, when you can just have an entire state fund your football club with obscene amounts of money it really distorts football and the clubs at the top for no other reason then insane levels of money.

Which is why nobody really cares when City wins things as it’s all distorted. They’re winning as they have immidiate cash injections being bankrolled from a state, spending beyond their actual revenue streams should allow.

Which is why football is continuing to lose its soul, which FFP tried to stop somehow but it’s failed.
 
TrustInOle said:
Why could Uefa not get a warrant, or whatever form this would take in this scenario, and force City to collaborate if hey had evidence suggesting FFP could play?
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Because UEFA aren't a law enforcement organization? It's a football confederation, they have no power outside of football.
 
Anyone that thinks this is good news for Utd needs to give their head a wobble. This is catastrophic news for Utd and the wider footballing world.

- Firstly, if City would have had the two-year ban, the chances are most of their best players would have looked to leave and while sure they could focus on the league, the negativity surrounding the club would have been a dark cloud.​

- Secondly, this ruling effectively marks the end of FFP and controlled spending. City's ownership can now go out spending £500 million a season if they desire as who's going to stop them, UEFA..? That's not even mentioning the fact the barrier has been lifted, Newcastle, Chelsea, PSG can all operate as they desire, spending stupid money in the pursuit of success.​

You can say what you want about the established elite in football and I don't agree with it all, but there has to be some reward for historic success and footballing traditions. Owners should be able to invest within reason, but nation state-backed football clubs is corrupt to the core and threatens the integrity of the sport. I think honestly, with this decision I'll back Liverpool for every title in a race with City (and I never thought I'd say that) because despite all the hatred I have for them at least they are a proper club who are playing by the same rules as us. City are corrupt and they know they are but just like wider society, they know money can get them out of any situation and that's frankly sickening.
 
totaalvoetbal said:
It appears that most people commenting don't even understand the case. The whole case was that the owners were injecting money directly not the club and disguising it as sponsorship money. CAS have vindicated them and the fine is NOT for breaking FFP rules, but for NOT co-operating with UEFA's investigation.

If anything, this shows incompetency and perhaps an agenda from UEFA. Every sponsorship deal with ties to the owner is investigated by UEFA, as per their FFP rules. Any deal found not to be fair market value will be adjusted to fall in line with it. Sponsorships cannot be inflated.
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And that's where you don't get it. City lied(lie by omission) about the ties to the owner and that's why we are here, they didn't disclose that and used legal mechanisms to hide them, such as shell companies. That's the difference with PSG who didn't hide it and told PSG to apply their rules and reevaluate the deals, people didn't like that one either.
 
The scenes when we knock them out of the champions league next season.

Take that you Pep Guardiola is my idol
 
JPRouve said:
Because UEFA aren't a law enforcement organization? It's a football confederation, they have no power outside of football.
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How do they implement their laws then and make club's abide by them? I would think if they have power in football to make rules then there should also be an organisation set about to enforce them. Or is this what CAS is supposed to be? If so, why can they not work with Uefa to uncover any foul play?

Don't mean to come across as aggressive if I do, just not fully aware of said organisations and how they enforce the laws?
 
Thunderhead said:
loads of people having metldowns before even looking at the evidence that was presented and why it was overturned.
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Well they are clearly guilty, hence they have still been fined. City being guilty is not the issue, the issue is the farcical punishment that basically does nothing but tarnish the sport.
 
Thunderhead said:
loads of people having metldowns before even looking at the evidence that was presented and why it was overturned.
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No ones having a meltdown, people are just struggling to understand how you can break rules and then someone decide you have broken the rules but that was over 5 years ago so here’s a fine and that’s enough?
 
Well that’s not the verdict the footballing world wanted. As someone alluded to this has given even further incentive to the multi billionaire owners to run riot and treat leagues clubs players and fans as playthings.

Every non oil or sheikh owned top club will have to significantly adjust their strategy. How do you even compete with clubs like city now, United generate enough of their own cash but it’s a slap in the face to clubs who work their way up and plan and organically build themselves up only for their places to be taken like this. We all laugh at spurs etc but the ramifications of city taking a top 4 spot over clubs like that is monumental.

There’s no real bright side to this, they can now buy whoever they want. FFP is dead.
 
totaalvoetbal said:
It appears that most people commenting don't even understand the case. The whole case was that the owners were injecting money directly not the club and disguising it as sponsorship money. CAS have vindicated them and the fine is NOT for breaking FFP rules, but for NOT co-operating with UEFA's investigation.

If anything, this shows incompetency and perhaps an agenda from UEFA. Every sponsorship deal with ties to the owner is investigated by UEFA, as per their FFP rules. Any deal found not to be fair market value will be adjusted to fall in line with it. Sponsorships cannot be inflated.
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UEFA are incompetent feckwits.
Its blatantly obvious what City did, its just that UEFA couldn't prove it. So UEFA went ahead with the ban anyway.
I wouldn't be so quick to call CAS corrupt. Its way way more likely that UEFAs case was piss weak, they even detailed offences that were time barred by their own rules ffs.
This should spell the end of UEFA, but it won't.
 
So if you're guilty, and you're required by the rules and regulations to give UEFA access to the books, you can now just refuse to give them access and cop a 10m fine? Sounds like a fancy way of paying your way out of trouble.
 
The Purley King said:
UEFA are incompetent feckwits.
Its blatantly obvious what City did, its just that UEFA couldn't prove it. So UEFA went ahead with the ban anyway.
I wouldn't be so quick to call CAS corrupt. Its way way more likely that UEFAs case was piss weak, they even detailed offences that were time barred by their own rules ffs.
This should spell the end of UEFA, but it won't.
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They couldn't prove it because City were going out of their way to block the UEFA investigation

Barnslig said:
So if you're guilty, and you're required by the rules and regulations to give UEFA access to the books, you can now just refuse to give them access and cop a 10m fine? Sounds like a fancy way of paying your way out of trouble.
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This.
 
People should realize that even CAS never said City didn't do anything wrong, they just said UEFA didn't catch them fast enough. After 5 years you can't prosecute the crime.

That is just ridiculous. Essentially any team can break FFP regulations, hide it for 5 years and then put up a billboard saying 'Eff off you sh*ts we cheated' and UEFA can't prosecute them.
 
TrustInOle said:
How do they implement their laws then and make club's abide by them? I would think if they have power in football to make rules then there should also be an organisation set about to enforce them. Or is this what CAS is supposed to be? If so, why can they not work with Uefa to uncover any foul play?

Don't mean to come across as aggressive if I do, just not fully aware of said organisations and how they enforce the laws?
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It's a mutual agreement between clubs, their national associations, their confederations(ex: UEFA) and FIFA. That's why federations/confederations generally don't like to go to court and have arbitrations.

Edit: The existence of that mutual agreement is in the statutes and is also kind of illegal.
 
crossy1686 said:
No ones having a meltdown, people are just struggling to understand how you can break rules and then someone decide you have broken the rules but that was over 5 years ago so here’s a fine and that’s enough?
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Especially when they are fined for impeding that investigation which led to the statue of limitations passing.

It legal procedings though so it isn't a surprise.
 
totaalvoetbal said:
It appears that most people commenting don't even understand the case. The whole case was that the owners were injecting money directly not the club and disguising it as sponsorship money. CAS have vindicated them and the fine is NOT for breaking FFP rules, but for NOT co-operating with UEFA's investigation.

If anything, this shows incompetency and perhaps an agenda from UEFA. Every sponsorship deal with ties to the owner is investigated by UEFA, as per their FFP rules. Any deal found not to be fair market value will be adjusted to fall in line with it. Sponsorships cannot be inflated.
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You could argue that it shows that City didn't want the investigation to uncover any evidence so they impeded it.
 
hasanejaz88 said:
People should realize that even CAS never said City didn't do anything wrong, they just said UEFA didn't catch them fast enough. After 5 years you can't prosecute the crime.

That is just ridiculous. Essentially any team can break FFP regulations, hide it for 5 years and then put up a billboard saying 'Eff off you sh*ts we cheated' and UEFA can't prosecute them.
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Pretty much this!
 
What's the best platform to make a petition for all fans of historic clubs to sign and show their owners that they have the backing of us fans to create a non-sheik private League as substitution for CL?
 
It always seemed like UEFA had a bit of an agenda against City in fairness. There was a lot of noise coming from the likes of Barca and Bayern around the time that the investigation was being conducted by UEFA, it did seem like there was a bit of 'appeasing the old boys' kind of thing.

Still, doesn't shed a good light on either City or UEFA. UEFA botched the original investigation in 2015 so not that surprising that no further action has been taken. For City, and the likes of PSG, Chelsea etc. it does seem like open season has been declared. UEFA should use this as a motivator to do FFP correctly. At the moment, the only clubs suffering are the ones that actually are in need of the UEFA money for their own sustainability.

Best not to focus on this too much. Win our games and we get third, and we are in Europe on our own merits. Win Eurpoa League and we get a better seeding for the draw. Let's focus on our own house. This obsession with City is a bit like the small minded noise that was coming out of City years ago, 'noisy neighbours' etc and all that. Morally and ethically, all the noise that comes out of that club is just wrong, and somewhere down the line the right thing will be done.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Secondly, this ruling effectively marks the end of FFP and controlled spending. City's ownership can now go out spending £500 million a season if they desire as who's going to stop them, UEFA..? That's not even mentioning the fact the barrier has been lifted, Newcastle, Chelsea, PSG can all operate as they desire, spending stupid money in the pursuit of success.
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I really don’t think it does. The rules will still be there BUT I think Uefa are going to have a post mortem and self investigate why their charges didn’t stick. The two things CAS said about the charges were they didn’t have enough evidence or they were time-barred. This will hopefully force UEFA to enact more thorough investigations and expedite the process to ensure statute of limitations aren’t passed.

If anything UEFA will change the rules regarding clubs not assisting with investigations causing the sanctions to be much harsher. Now the next club they think has broken the rules will be punished with more immediacy.
 
Adam-Utd said:
You'll care once we can't compete for people like Sancho because the oil clubs have unlimited resources.

FFP was the only thing keeping them in check, now they can just +1 whatever we do.

At this point the only thing going for us is the history of the club, but will that be enough to convince the best players? just like with Toure, Aguero and Silva they blew everybody out the water, it'll get even worse from this point.
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Don't get me wrong I love United to do well and it is important for my good feel factor. However, we don't make the rules or have control over the matters. If rich owners can find sophisticated ways of spending money on their clubs its something we can't do much about.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Anyone that thinks this is good news for Utd needs to give their head a wobble. This is catastrophic news for Utd and the wider footballing world.

- Firstly, if City would have had the two-year ban, the chances are most of their best players would have looked to leave and while sure they could focus on the league, the negativity surrounding the club would have been a dark cloud.​

- Secondly, this ruling effectively marks the end of FFP and controlled spending. City's ownership can now go out spending £500 million a season if they desire as who's going to stop them, UEFA..? That's not even mentioning the fact the barrier has been lifted, Newcastle, Chelsea, PSG can all operate as they desire, spending stupid money in the pursuit of success.​

You can say what you want about the established elite in football and I don't agree with it all, but there has to be some reward for historic success and footballing traditions. Owners should be able to invest within reason, bu
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Anyone that thinks this is good news for Utd needs to give their head a wobble. This is catastrophic news for Utd and the wider footballing world.

- Firstly, if City would have had the two-year ban, the chances are most of their best players would have looked to leave and while sure they could focus on the league, the negativity surrounding the club would have been a dark cloud.​

- Secondly, this ruling effectively marks the end of FFP and controlled spending. City's ownership can now go out spending £500 million a season if they desire as who's going to stop them, UEFA..? That's not even mentioning the fact the barrier has been lifted, Newcastle, Chelsea, PSG can all operate as they desire, spending stupid money in the pursuit of success.​

You can say what you want about the established elite in football and I don't agree with it all, but there has to be some reward for historic success and footballing traditions. Owners should be able to invest within reason, but nation state-backed football clubs is corrupt to the core and threatens the integrity of the sport. I think honestly, with this decision I'll back Liverpool for every title in a race with City (and I never thought I'd say that) because despite all the hatred I have for them at least they are a proper club who are playing by the same rules as us. City are corrupt and they know they are but just like wider society, they know money can get them out of any situation and that's frankly sickening.
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t nation state-backed football clubs is corrupt to the core and threatens the integrity of the sport. I think honestly, with this decision I'll back Liverpool for every title in a race with City (and I never thought I'd say that) because despite all the hatred I have for them at least they are a proper club who are playing by the same rules as us. City are corrupt and they know they are but just like wider society, they know money can get them out of any situation and that's frankly sickening.
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Nation state backed football clubs is corrupt to the core, and threatens the integrity of the game is totally correct.

This is a bad day for competitiveness in football. How can other clubs cope against nation state backed ones? It’s impossible. And to make it worse it’s state backed from very questionable states.

City truly are everything that’s wrong with modern day football & now it’s going to get worse
 
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