Manchester City will play in the Champions League next season after the Sports Arbitration Panel (CAS) has lifted the club’s two-year ban on European football.
City was suspended by the UEFA financial control authority in February for “serious violations” of the club’s license and fair play financial terms.
The Premier League club vehemently denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision to CAS last month after previously calling UEFA’s disciplinary procedure “disadvantageous”.
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After hearing evidence for three days in June, CAS has now unlocked it. This will allow City to compete in the Champions League next season after securing second place in the Premier League with a 5-0 win over Brighton on Saturday.
A statement from Manchester City said: “While Manchester City and its legal advisors have not yet reviewed the full decision of the Sports Arbitration Panel (CAS), the club welcomes the implications of today’s decision as confirmation of the club’s position and the evidence that could present it. The club would like to thank the panel members for their care and the due process they have followed. “
UEFA has released its own statement on the judgment, stating that they are still committed to implementing financial fair play.
It reads: “UEFA notes the Sports Arbitration Tribunal’s decision to reduce the sanction imposed on Manchester City FC by the UEFA Club Independent Financial Control Authority for alleged violations of UEFA club license and financial fair play rules.
“UEFA notes that the CAS Panel has determined that there is insufficient conclusive evidence to support all of the CFCB’s conclusions in this particular case, and that many of the alleged violations were due to the five-year period set out in UEFA’s regulations Years have expired.
“Financial fair play has played an important role in protecting clubs and their financial sustainability in recent years, and UEFA and ECA remain committed to their principles.
“UEFA will make no further comments on this matter.”
After the game against Brighton, city manager Pep Guardiola said he was confident that the ban would be lifted and insisted that his team deserved to play in the elite competition in European football.
“Today we achieved an incredible challenge, namely the mathematical qualification for the Champions League,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“This is the challenge that is the minimum requirement for this club. And these players have been doing it for the past six or seven years.
“We deserved to be there because we won it on the pitch. Hopefully UEFA can allow us to play like this team on Monday and these players deserve it. “
This article was originally published by Sky Sports and reproduced with permission.
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