Here are all the key details surrounding Man City's Champions League ban, including which Financial Fair Play rules they broke and more.
The football world has been shaken to its core following the news that Manchester City are set to face a two-year ban from the Champions League .
The Citizens are planning to overturn the ban with an appeal, but there is no denying that a ban from the competition will have serious ramifications on and off the pitch . Here's everything you need to know about the ban, what rules Man City are alleged to have broken, how it will affect the Premier League and more.
Why are Man City banned from Europe?
Manchester City have been banned from competing in the Champions League for the next two seasons after they were found to be in breach of serious Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
They have also been fined €30 million (£25m/$33m).
An investigation found that the Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) found City guilty of "overstating its sponsorship revenue" between 2012 and 2016.
The CFCB opened an investigation into Man City in March 2019 following allegations that they had broken FFP-related rules . These allegations were first made public by German publication Der Spiegel with documents obtained by whistleblowers Football Leaks .
CFCB found Man City guilty of deliberately inflating the financial value of a sponsorship deal – which would allow them to spend more money – and therefore deceiving UEFA.
The leaked emails found that Man City owner Sheikh Mansour funded the majority of the club’s £67.5m annual sponsorship by Etihad.
One leaked document suggested that Etihad had only funded £8m of that sponsorship in 2015-16, with the rest of the finances being supplied by Abu Dhabi United Group – Mansour’s own company.
According to the reports, City deceived UEFA so that they would be able to meet certain FFP rules that made it mandatory for clubs to break even.
What are Financial Fair Play rules?
FFP rules are guidelines upheld by UEFA in order to discourage clubs from exploiting their financial superiority and then gaining an unfair advantage.
FFP rules state that what a club spends must be balanced with what they earn. It was introduced to dissuade clubs from overspending in areas such as player wages and transfers.
Lucrative sponsorships increase a club’s revenue, and how much clubs are allowed to spend. The suggestion, then, was that Mansour was privately funding the majority of the Etihad deal – which raised concerns that the club had misled UEFA’s CFCB.
Read more about what FFP is here.
How have Man City responded?
Man City are unwilling to speak in detail about the matter to the media and are expected to maintain this approach until the end of the appeals process.
They have, however, stated that they intend on appealing the ban and have denied any wrongdoing in the past.
Man City said in a statement that they were “disappointed but not surprised” by UEFA’s decision.
They outlined their intention to appeal the ban “at the earliest opportunity” with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and slammed the "prejudiced" process.
Their statement read: “The club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position.
"Simply put, this is a case initiated by UEFA, prosecuted by UEFA and judged by UEFA. With this prejudicial process now over, the Club will pursue an impartial judgment as quickly as possible and will therefore, in the first instance, commence proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the earliest opportunity."
There is a possibility that the ban could be overturned should City be successful in their appeal. If the ban is overturned, they would be allowed to resume participation in the Champions League and other European competitions.
Why so harsh?
Another surprising element in this case is the severity of the punishment. City has been punished by UEFA over FFP violations before, but only ever in fines that were often suspended. A ban from the Champions League is severe.
AC Milan was once banned from the Europa League for FFP violations, but that was quickly overturned. Paris Saint-Germain managed to prevent a probe into their finances altogether. The closest to a case like this was Turkish club Bursaspor, which was banned from the Europa league in 2015. Not many people legitimately thought that UEFA would go that far against City, especially for two seasons.
How will Man City’s ban affect Champions League qualification in the Premier League?
UEFA rules state that clubs finishing in the Premier League top four automatically qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Should Man City’s ban be upheld, their 2020-21 Champions League spot will go to the club that finishes fifth in the table (assuming that Man City finish in the top four).
According to UEFA’s Champions League rule 4.08 , in the event of a team being disqualified from the competition, their spot goes to the next best-placed club in the top-flight.
They state: “A club which is not admitted to the competition is replaced by the next best-placed club in the top domestic championship of the same association, provided the new club fulfils the admission criteria.”
Can Man City compete in the Europa League?
No. UEFA’s decision states that Man City are disqualified from competing in UEFA club competitions, and this includes the Europa League.
They state that Man City “shall be excluded from participation in UEFA club competitions in the next two seasons (ie. the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons)”.
What happens if Man City win the Champions League this season?
UEFA rules state that whoever wins the Champions League automatically qualifies for next season’s competition, regardless of their domestic league performance.
In this case, however, it is understood that Man City will still not be allowed to compete in next season’s Champions League as titleholders.
They would also be unable to compete in the 2020 Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
Could Man City face a Premier League points deduction?
According to the Independent , Man City could be dealt with another huge blow in a possible Premier League points deduction .
It is likely that the Premier League will be made to deal their own punishment to the club in order to be in accordance with UEFA’s FFP regulations.
The punishment could potentially be a points deduction should Man City’s ban not be overturned following the appeal.
With Man City 22 points adrift of Liverpool at the time of UEFA issuing their statement, a potential points deduction would not impact the title race or put them in danger of relegation – though it is not yet clear how many points could be deducted.
Muhemty
2218
Effect is... There will be race for 5th place now.
pumpkinin
1432
BAN means Bye All Names
MOSahinJalloh
1142
here is it effects
DeepHack
1114
This means they will put their all in this season
Sudhir_Gosavi
795
there are big effect for this ban, now days very few less than 1% players are loyal to the club. the super players wants to join big clubs for the champions league as the same thing with super coaches also. first of all Pep will leave for Juv or Returns to Barca to full fill his dream to win CL again which surely he cannot do next season as this season also looks difficult. next will the players like Sterling, Benardo, Aguero , Rodri etc. who join cub for CL glory will also leave. All inform stars also ran to other big club, the Pep favourite will follow him to his new club. the club needs to depends majorly on out of form , old age players and mostly academy players. No top players or top coaches shows interest in the club for at least two years. During this two years if above things are happen the club has the great danger to be fall in relegation or at the bottom half of the table. it's took so many years of effort and money to build this club as a European gianth but within two years only this club will collapse. I remember the Juventus history after relegating to tire 2, no big name or coach left the club and it's back to the top flight after 2-3 season and now they are unbeatable champions of Italy. Hopefully the ManC players and coaches also follow the same footsteps as Juventus, but that won't happen here that's sure it's an English mentality to run away from the sinking ship rather than staying on it and save it.
Mokekrt
764
UEFA are too far for us. if we are guilty,they should ban us from the window transfer. Why CL ban?🤔 this is envious act. absolutely not fair. Barca,Real,Athletic,Chelsea all were already commited guilty for Ueaf's low but they didn't face something like this.
sevenSam
629
Modern problems require modern solutions !!!
ATÓMICO
511
Breaking:If you see anyone LAUGHING OUT LOUDLY , then know that he is a Liverpool fan...
Daine_Stevens
463
I had so many questions and this article answered all of them. Very good article.
Afgang
385
Wolves or Man Utd could get in next season suggesting they finish 5th
Wamunyima
376
Since Man City's points are worthless because they can neither win the EPL nor be relegated, they can divert their focus to UCL and hope to win the trophy. Then in the next two seasons they can give Liverpool some decent competition domestically.
Luodiklr
372
Big Summer transfer window coming up, lads
Amanda-
332
Now that the UK are outta the EU . Their soccer clubs will be unprotected and open to this kinda hard judgments going forward. They EPL will also lose it financial power and starting with this ban on City, players will move and owners may start selling their clubs for elsewhere. Brexit will finally break the UK 🇬🇧 😂
Haabcemsu
286
this is like going to the DMV guys; you could pay 150 bucks plus 6 points on your license for the speeding ticket OR you could pay 350 bucks and have that speeding ticket dropped to a NON moving violation zero point ticket. what do you want? City: 2 year ban 30 mil fine after arbitration: 1 window transfer ban 130 mil fine city owners: lemme find your pocket change in my sofa real quick [Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh] if this ban is upheld, I wouldn't worry about Man City. I'd start praying cause Jesus is coming back.
Andy_Mac
242
Wow does this mean that Man City started the cheating way back in 2012 all the way till 2016? No wonder they have been winning all these domestic competitions. I feel sorry for Liverpool as they truly deserved 2 PL titles but lost out because some clubs decided to cheat their way to success.
bipdlps
97
Rules are rules you break them you pay..... Man City is a signatory to the rules so should face the music.... as much as I don’t like the judgement from footballing point of view they should’ve been smart and not compulsive
Schlembeckler
9
UEFA are too far for us. if we are guilty,they should ban us from the window transfer. Why CL ban?🤔 this is envious act. absolutely not fair. Barca,Real,Athletic,Chelsea all were already commited guilty for Ueaf's low but they didn't face something like this.
You cheated.... massively! Not saying the rules are right, but lobby to change them, dont pretend you have revenue you don’t have. Cheaters. End of story. The rest had to follow them and every Man City trophy is a sham.