By David Awopetu
Manchester City’s two-year ban from the Champions League for a serious breach of Uefa’s financial fair play rules has been overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The English club also saw their fine reduced to €10 million instead of the initial €30 million
City were initially punished by UEFA in February, when they were banned from participating in any European competition for two years and given a €30m fine for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
Pep Guadiola’s side vehemently denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision at CAS last month, after previously describing the UEFA disciplinary process as “prejudicial”.
After hearing evidence over the course of three days in June, CAS has now overturned the suspension – meaning the Premier League club are free to compete in the Champions League next season, having secured second spot in the Premier League with a 5-0 thrashing of Brighton on Saturday.
UEFA could challenge the CAS ruling at Switzerland’s supreme court. Federal appeals in CAS cases rarely succeed and only consider narrow grounds of legal procedure.
Among the favourites to win the UCL this season, City hold a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid going into the second leg of their round of 16 encounter.
