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Champions League: Manchester City play big against the CAS

2020-06-07T17:48:18.968Z


Excluded two years from the European Cups for not respecting the rules of financial fair play, the English club hopes for a decision in its favor from the Arbitral Tribunal for Sport.


Manchester City plays very big: the English club will challenge from Monday to Wednesday before the Arbitral Tribunal of Sport (CAS) its exclusion for two years from the European Cups for having broken the rules of financial fair play, during a hearing by videoconference. The appeal of "City" is against the decision of the judgment chamber of the Club Financial Control Commission (ICFC) dated February 14, 2020.

Decision during July

By this decision, the UEFA financial gendarme had decided to exclude the defending English champion for the next two seasons of European Cups, with his sanction of a fine of 30 million euros. The hearing, which is held at a distance, due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, will open Monday at 9:00 am local time and should end on Wednesday evening.

No verdict will be rendered immediately after the hearing. The decision "could be made during the month of July," said Matthieu Reeb, secretary general of the CAS. If it is unfavorable to City, the CAS decision may be challenged by the English club as a last resort before the Swiss Federal Court, which also sits in Lausanne.

Overvalued sponsorship revenue

A precedent exists: another great European has already been excluded from European competitions for non-compliance with the rules of financial fair play, the Italian club AC Milan, a decision confirmed in June 2019 by the Arbitral Tribunal for Sport . AC Milan, qualified for the Europa League, had been excluded for the 2019-2020 season.

Manchester City is singled out for having overvalued the revenues from sponsorship contracts in its accounts for the period 2012-2016. The financial losses incurred by an absence on the European scene would greatly exceed EUR 100 million per year and would not be without consequences for the lifestyle of the club, especially since the Champions League acts as a large exhibition window for the Emirati owners of City.

While the Premier League, interrupted since March, will resume on June 17, the "Citizens" occupy 2nd place in the classification, qualifying for the C1, 25 points behind leader Liverpool and four steps ahead of Leicester and nine on Chelsea.

Downgrade

Just after the exclusion was announced, the club deemed the UEFA procedure "biased". A few days later, Ferran Sorian, the president of the holding company that controls the club, believed that the decision seemed "to be less for justice and more for politics".

If the sentence was confirmed, the financial strength of the club would be hit. Last season, no less than EUR 93 million in C1 broadcasting rights entered the boxes, not to mention match day revenue or sponsorship.

But the risk is also the possible downgrading that would result from an absence, even a temporary one, from the continental scene. "If they don't dismiss me, I will stay here 100%, more than ever," said the emblematic Spanish coach Pep Guardiola a few days before the knockout round of the Champions League first leg won (2-1) in Santiagio -Bernabeu against Real Madrid, early February. Interrupted due to the coronavirus, C1 could resume in August. But some of City's star players may see things differently, like Kevin de Bruyne.

"The club told us that they were almost 100% sure that they were right (...) I trust my team", had first assured the Belgian in an interview in early May to a Flemish daily, before making it clear that if the sentence is not reduced, he would not make old bones in the north of England: "Two years (without Europe) would be long, but if it is a year, we will see ”.

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Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2020-06-07

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