Manchester City have been banned from UEFA club competitions for the next two seasons after being found guilty of "serious breaches" of financial regulations.
The decision was announced on Friday evening with City describing the ruling as disappointing, but not surprising.
City have confirmed they will appeal Uefa's decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest sport court in the land.
Below is the timeline of events that resulted in City's ban:
2011/12 season: Financial fair play (FFP) is introduced in the Premier League as UEFA attempt to prevent professional football clubs from spending more than they earn and get into financial problems as a result.
Sponsorship - which is important in Man City's case - is a grey area of FFP.
Uefa rules explain it as: "If a club's owner injects money into the club through a sponsorship deal with a company to which he is related (if the sponsor accounts for more than 30 percent of the club's revenues), then UEFA's competent bodies will investigate and, if necessary, adapt the calculations of the break-even result for the sponsorship revenues to the level which is appropriate ('fair value') according to market prices."
Therefore, there is no definition of what exactly would breach the rules, meaning Uefa handle each breach on a case-by-case basis.
5 November, 2018: German publication Der Spiegel publish a series of leaks claiming Manchester City and their sponsors have deceived UEFA by manipulating contracts to comply with the FFP regulations.
They claimed City's ownership company Abu Dhabi United Group channelled investment into the club in the guise of sponsorship deals with Abu Dhabi companies in order to meet the limit on losses. They believe that those deals were not as big as declared, and that owner Sheikh Mansour made up the shortfall.
Manchester City refused to comment.
6 June, 2019: Man City appeal to CAS over Uefa's decision to refer them to the financial watchdog.
Papdipru
0
I trust the Club and the eoner. For Ever a City supporter
he who laughs last laugh the best
Basbcdklnz
1
forever a cityzen!!💪💪 and we shall win the case!
kolikante
1
man City Always Love buying Players from Other Clubs so now is Other Clubs Turn
DieHardRed
1
they banned us for financial fairplay rules. as our most expensive player costs €65M. if they would ban us, we would have bought CR7 and Messi togethar. each one for €500M
You don’t understand the rules do you? 😂 you deserved the ban 109%
Joshujosh001
0
😂 Manchester city supermarket is now open for clubs to take whichever player they lack in the summer
Phils-Moses
0
they banned us for financial fairplay rules. as our most expensive player costs €65M. if they would ban us, we would have bought CR7 and Messi togethar. each one for €500M
you seem to not understanding FFP, It's not about buying expensive players that make you breach the FFP rule, it's abt spending more than you earn...that means CITY spends more money than they earn, even if most of their players they bought them less than £70M but still they spent more than they earn
Mokekrt
0
Shifty Sheiks
keep out your UCL position for Wolves and Liecester City😂🤣.
Mokekrt
5
they banned us for financial fairplay rules. as our most expensive player costs €65M. if they would ban us, we would have bought CR7 and Messi togethar. each one for €500M
LordVader
0
I trust the Club and the eoner. For Ever a City supporter
Shifty Sheiks
Naclns
4
I trust the Club and the eoner. For Ever a City supporter