UEFA announced on Friday that the ban for the next two seasons was for “serious breaches” of its financial fair play rules, namely City overstating sponsorship revenue for four years between 2012 and 2016.
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In a counterstatement, City, who were also fined 30 million euros (32.5 million dollars), said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at the “earliest opportunity” in the hope of dismissing what they called a “prejudicial process.”
But how did it come to this and what happens next?
This was a long-awaited and expected decision and one which was hailed by Spain’s La Liga president Javier Tebas when he said the move was “better late than never.”
In November 2018, German publication Der Speigel obtained a series of internal Manchester City emails from the Football Leaks organization.
One of the damaging emails appeared to show that City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi royal family, was personally funding 57.5 million pounds of a 67.5 million sponsorship deal of the club’s shirt, stadium and academy through his primary company Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). Etihad Airways operates out of Abu Dhabi.
Under the financial fair play (FFP) rules, UEFA placed limits on how much a club’s owner can influence the team’s budget to further encourage clubs to spend within their means.
Rodney Marsh, who played for the club between 1972 and 1976, believes the decision could force Sheik Mansour to put the club up for sale.
“If this ban from the Champions League is upheld, I can see a channel for the owner to sell,” radio host Marsh said on Sirius XFM.
“Mansour said he wanted Manchester City to become the biggest club in Europe and win the Champions League. But look what he did. They had (former manager) Roberto Mancini, who won everything except the Champions League and they sacked him.”
And what about current coach Pep Guardiola’s future? The Spaniard’s contract runs out in 2021 and without the Champions League, will he walk away to chase what is ultimately his dream?
City play Real Madrid in this season’s Champions League last 16 over the next two months and Guardiola is looking forward to what could be his final match in the elite competition with City.
“I will enjoy to prepare against Madrid and see what I can do and it will be the happiest moment of my profession,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
Without the Champions League, questions will be raised on what elite players they can attract to the team and whether they can keep their current crop, as BT Sport pundit and former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince pointed out.
“For Pep, they’ve got to win it this year,” said Ince.
“The best players want to go to the best clubs because of the Champions League. If they’re not in it for the next two years, are they going to be able to get the best players?”
One thing from the UEFA ban that has been confirmed is that their women’s team will still be eligible for European competition.
The final question mark concerning the men’s team resides with the Premier League. Will they be deducted points from their current tally or even worse kicked next season given the UEFA ruling?
It seems highly unlikely but the Premier League has refused to comment at this stage.
With their appeal also still to come, the next few months are going to bring more questions than answers for Manchester City.
