Sports

Man City to learn fate of Champions League ban next month

London, Jun 10 (efe-epa).- Manchester City will learn whether or not they face a two year ban from European competitions in the first half of July, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Wednesday.

Man City is appealing against Uefa’s decision to bar the club from its flagship Champions League and Europa League after the footballing body deemed the English club to have breached financial fair play rules between 2012-16.

Man City would also be prohibited from playing in the Uefa Super League in the event they win this year’s Champions League.

The hearing at CAS came to a close Wednesday and the sentencing is due next month.

“The hearing, initiated on 8 June 2020 in the morning, was conducted by videoconference, with participants in Lausanne and London, and expert witnesses in various countries, in accordance with the schedule planned,” the court said.

“At the end of the hearing, both parties expressed their satisfaction with respect to the conduct of the procedure,” it added in a statement.

In February this year Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) ruled that Man City had committed “serious breaches” of financial fair play rules by inflating the value of its sponsorship deals so that owner, Abu Dhabi-based Sheikh Mansour, could invest more money directly into the club.

The decision came after a report by Football Leaks and Der Spiegel.

Man City vehemently denies any wrongdoing.

Uefa also accused the club of failing to cooperate in an investigation into the allegations, and handed the English top-flight team a 30 million euro ($33m) fine.

According to Forbes, Manchester City is the fifth most valuable club in the world, after Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

They have won the Premier League for the last two consecutive years under Pep Guardiola, although are poised to miss out this year to runaway leaders Liverpool.

Unlike the presumptive champions, they remain in the Champions League and are pending a round-of-16 second-leg game hosting Real Madrid having secured a 1-2 victory away in Spain in March. EFE-EPA

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