Manchester City to risk Champions League expulsion

The Independent

Manchester City will risk possible expulsion from next season’s Champions League if they fight the sanctions Uefa impose on them for being in breach of Financial Fair Play. City have learned that Paris Saint-Germain have been hit by far harsher sanctions than had been expected for their own breach.

It would be surprising if City faced similar tough punishment to PSG, who will receive a 60m (£49m) fine, a reduction from 25 to 21 in their squad for next season’s competition and the stipulation that their wage bill for next season’s competition must not exceed this season’s.

It is by no means certain that the Manchester club will face the same penalty as the French club—even though the PSG settlement reveals the sanction regime is going to be tough. City must either reach a settlement with Uefa’s Financial Control Body or a non-negotiable punishment will be put into the hands of the adjudicatory chamber of that body.

City’s right of appeal then goes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which would consider their case before the start of next season’s competition. Lawyer Daniel Geey, the football law specialist at the firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, who has advised clients and written extensively on FFP, said last night that an appeal did create a “higher risk of expulsion” for City.

Manchester City appear to have grounds to argue that they should not get the same punishment as PSG, having produced audited accounts which saw them narrowly pass the FFP test this February. City have also managed to cut their losses by half for each of the past two years.