La Liga President Javier Tebas was let irate after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned Manchester City’s two-year Champions League ban for breaches of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.
UEFA’s initial punishment of a two-year ban from all European competitions was overturned on Monday morning after City successfully appealed the decision to CAS, and will now be allowed to take part in next season’s Champions League after securing another top-two Premier League finish.
UEFA had charged Man City in February after deeming the Etihad Stadium outfit to have committed ‘serious breaches’ of their regulations between 2012 and 2016 by falsely inflating their sponsorship revenues, however CAS’ ruling cleared the Citizens of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions” in their verdict.
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CAS’ ruling has raised serious question marks over the future sustainability of UEFA’s FFP regulations, including from La Liga President Tebas who quickly pondered the future implications City’s appeal will have on the game.
Tebas also questions whether CAS are the right organisation to deal with football-related matters of this manner, with changes potentially needed from the very top of the game.
“We have to reassess whether CAS is the appropriate body to which to appeal institutional decisions in football,” he said, via quotes by the Daily Mail.
“Switzerland is a country with a great history of arbitration, CAS is not up to standard.”
City’s successful appeal ensures any Premier League side wishing to compete in the Champions League next season alongside Pep Guardiola’s men and Liverpool must secure either a third- or fourth-place finish, with Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United all in contention.