The Premier League club was suspended from UEFA competitions two years earlier this season for violating the Financial Fair Play rules, which seemed to be set up to prevent them from playing in the Champions League and could lead to mass quitting of their best players.
Man City should not celebrate
Manchester City should not celebrate the lifting of their ban from European competition, said CEO of Borussia Dortmund Hans-Joachim Watzke. The Premier League club was suspended from UEFA competitions two years earlier this season for violating the Financial Fair Play rules. Which seemed to be set up to prevent them from playing in the Champions League and could lead to mass quitting of their best players. Man City appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and on Monday. Their ban was lifted in what became a massive victory for the club and a painful blow to the governing body of European football. Instead, the English club was ordered to pay a fine of €10 million (£9 million/$11 million) for not helping UEFA in its investigations. Itself a considerable reduction from the initial financial penalty.
The CAS lifted a ban because of a lack of evidence
The decision was regarded as an excuse for the City, and manager Pep Guardiola said the verdict proved that the club acted above the board. However, Watzke believes that City should not relate to this decision. Indicating that the CAS came to their judgment because of a lack of evidence after the Premier League side refuses to cooperate with the UEFA investigation. He told journalists: “Overall, it was a bad day for football. It is also bad for UEFA. I would recommend Man City to stop celebrating. If you read the arguments in favor of the judgment, you will see that only the evidence was not sufficiently substantiated. The celebration should be prohibited”. Watzke is not the only considerable European football activist infuriated with the escape. With LaLiga president and long-standing Man City critic Javier Tebas aiming further at Guardiola.
Tabas told reporters: “Manchester City will be in the Champions League next season. Not because they acted correctly, but rather because the CAS is wrong. The CAS fined them €10 million, that is, not only for the sake of it. From what I’ve read, I gather it because they did not cooperate with UEFA. Why is that? Is there hidden documentation in City? I want to read the final decision now if I can. In the same way, as we still could not read the final decision of PSG from CAS, when a lot of time has passed, and it still does not available. “The day I sit down and read it. I will tell Guardiola that I am convinced that Manchester City was not acting correctly.”