Manchester Citys trainer Pep Guardiola looks relieved. When the International Sports Court (Cas) lifted the European Cup ban against his club on Monday morning, the Spaniard followed the action with some of his staff in front of the television. Minutes after the verdict, the group took a selfie on social media – five men, Guardiola in the middle, five beaming faces with the implicit expression: We told you! Guardiola’s assistant, Manel Estiarte, had put the picture on the net, and he took it out a little later – but by then it had been copied a thousand times.
In February, the European Football Association (Uefa) had severely punished Manchester City for serious violations of financial fair play: the club was to be excluded from the European Cup for two years and also to pay a fine of 30 million euros. City took action against it. On Monday, the Cas significantly mitigated the sentence because the central allegations – unauthorized financial contributions – either could not be adequately proven or were time-barred. Instead of 30, the club now has to pay ten million euros. A no brainer for the club, which has been financially financed by Sheikh Mansour from Abu Dhabi since 2008 and which, according to its own statements, has ended the football year 2018/19 with a record turnover of the equivalent of almost 590 million euros. Much more important: City can participate in the Champions League, which Mansour desires like nothing else.
The club had presented itself as a victim in the matter and declared the Uefa Financial Control Chamber (CFCB) to be biased. The club said on Monday that the verdict was seen as a confirmation of their own position. Many football fans and observers on the social networks found the decision of the Cas judges to be grotesque. The hashtag “#FFPISDEAD” was trending on Twitter – financial fair play is dead. There was also criticism from Jürgen Klopp. “I don’t wish anyone bad. But I don’t think it was a good day for football yesterday, ”said coach Liverpool FC at a press conference on Tuesday:“ I think financial fair play is a good idea. It is there to protect the teams and the competition. ”Guardiola’s eternal rival José Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur) even spoke of a disgraceful decision“ by the Cas.
Guardiola promptly went on the counterattack. “You should apologize to us,” said the 49-year-old: “What we did was right. We were not banned because we followed the rules of financial fair play – otherwise we would have been banned. “He countered the critics:” They lost off the pitch. Now they have to defeat us on the pitch, that’s sport. “
But the headwind for Guardiola and City is strong. Gary Lineker, TV sports presenter and former England international, wrote: “It’s hard to imagine how Uefa’s FFP rules will survive. In general: Can Uefa survive the effects? ”The BBC wrote in an analysis that the verdict does not prove the innocence of the club. The wording of the Cas in the preliminary rationale is important. For example, there is talk of insufficiently convincing evidence, but not no evidence.
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