UEFA’S chief financial investigator has confirmed that Manchester City could indeed be banned from the Champions League if they are found guilty of a further breach of Financial Fair Play regulations.
I wrote last month, the view being held by senior figures at European football’s governing body is that a heavier punishment would be appropriate if a club fined previously for breaking FFP rules are in breach again.
And now Yves Leterme, the head of Uefa’s independent Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), has told a Belgian publication that City may now face ‘the heaviest punishment’
According to reports in German magazine Der Spiegel and based on evidence from a Football Leaks cache of documents, City’s owners have allegedly funded their own sponsorship deals to stay within FFP regulations.
It is claimed the Abu Dhabi United Group, the holding company which owns City, directly paid £59.5m of Etihad’s annual sponsorship, with only £8m coming from the airline.
UEFA and the Premier League are investigating the claims and in an interview with Belgian magazine Sport and Strategy Leterme has said:
‘If it is true what has been written, there might be a serious problem. This can lead to the heaviest punishment: exclusion from the Uefa competitions.
‘If the information is correct, this possibly goes against truthful reporting. The financial fair play rules are based on a system of declaration, three months after the clubs have closed their accounts, they have to deposit their figures. Then we do random checks on the truthfulness of those figures. The accounts are examined and approved internally and externally.’
Its easy to say they should be banned, but I am not convinced that UEFA has the backbone to ban either Manchester City or PSG over FFP violations.
Do you think that Man City will be banned?
