European football’s governing body declined to comment as fresh scrutiny mounted over FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his past tenure as UEFA general secretary regarding financial investigations into Manchester City. The developments follow statements from Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto accusing the former administrator of mishandling confidential documents during probes into elite clubs.
UEFA Silence Follows Pinto Allegations
The Union of European Football Associations confirmed through a spokesperson that it will not immediately address the renewed financial controversy surrounding Manchester City. The stance comes in the wake of remarks made by Rui Pinto, the digital whistleblower whose 2018 disclosures originally triggered English regulatory investigations into the Premier League club.
Writing on the social media platform X, Pinto asserted that Infantino abused his authority while serving as UEFA general secretary by sharing confidential documents and steering investigators away from stringent punishments. Pinto claimed that the current head of world football worked to ensure that both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain faced only financial penalties rather than expulsion from the Champions League.
CAS Reduces Manchester City Ban to Fine
The controversy revisits a protracted disciplinary timeline that began when UEFA prosecuted Manchester City in 2019 for alleged breaches of financial regulations. The club consistently denied all wrongdoing throughout the proceedings.
Initially, adjudicators handed the English club a two-year ban from European competition. However, that sanction was substantially altered in 2020 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport set aside the ban and reduced the penalty to a 10 million euro fine.
Manchester City Faces Penalties for Financial Rule Breaches
The Premier League confirmed that an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of numerous serious financial rule breaches covering a nine-year span from 2009 through 2018. The club faces potential penalties that include significant points deductions, transfer restrictions, or a possible expulsion from the league, alongside the theoretical risk of having past titles stripped.
Under the established legal framework, the club holds a designated window to lodge appeals against the determination. Meanwhile, opponents of the current FIFA administration have utilized the resurfaced allegations to question Infantino’s ongoing leadership of the global governing body.
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