Manchester City is suspended from playing any European competitions in the next two years, UEFA announced yesterday. The Sky-Blues will also pay €30 million in addition, all that for breaching the Finacial Fair Play rules.
City’s Sentence Shocks the World
Although the Citizens have a right to appeal, it is widely believed that the initial decision will stay intact. UEFA issued a statement yesterday saying that the English champions violated the FFP rules, and having in mind that this wasn’t their first meddling with these laws, the ban was expected.
According to the investigation executed by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, it appears that Man City falsely interpreted their sponsorship deals and revenues, and that they didn’t send the correct information to the European house of football. The investigation included the period between 2012 and 2016.
The club can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Still, many experts on sports law say that City’s actions won’t change the current statement. The club issued a statement saying that the whole process wasn’t quite fair, accusing UEFA and its inspectors for making several errors during the investigation.
Back in 2014, Man City and UEFA had made an agreement on which City accepted a £49 million fine, and some restrictions during the upcoming transfer windows. The whole situation, in that case, was because of the same problems which triggered the current one, and that includes sponsorship deals. The partnership with Etihad was highly suspicious because it violated several FFP rules.
Is City Falling Appart After This?
Be sure that the Citizens will feel the consequences of this action. Two years without European competitions is a long period, and some of the players would definitely want to leave.
Also, not to forget, City could wind up in the lower tier of domestic football. The national association can conduct a similar process after UEFA did it, but to be honest, this is only a theory.
To come back to the more realistic options. Apart from several players, who grew together with the club, and by that, we mean Sergio Aguero, for example, we might expect a surge of departures from Etihad. Even though many have excellent contracts, the call of international competitions is stronger than the money.
It seems that Pep Guardiola‘s departure is inevitable. Even before all this, the Spaniard was aiming to find another club. He was in talks with Juventus at the start of the season, but that didn’t go as planned.
Meanwhile, his Barcelona is struggling, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back at Camp Nou, where he made a name for himself, creating one of the most dominant football teams in the history of this sport.
The question stands, what will happen with all the players, like David and Bernardo Silva, de Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Kyle Walker and many more.
This ban could have a long-term impact on the continental football, as it can create a bang which will disperse a lot of quality all over Europe.
