Man City Champions League ban has been troubling the football fans since last year. The governing body of European football, UEFA banned City from playing Champions League on the basis of violation of Financial Fair Play (FFP). The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has finally decided to lift that ban which people think can cause problems for UEFA.
UEFA started to have internal debates over the FFP transparency but managed to botch the whole case. They charged City without properly checking that the time period for taking action against past transgressions had already passed.
Man City Champions League Ban and Ruling
CAS agreed with City that most of the alleged violations were limited to a certain time period or not established at all. Allegations exceeded the time period of 5 years so people have bashed UEFA for missing this important detail and banning City abruptly.
This made UEFA angry who claimed that City got off on a technicality (existing law that obstructs punishment for the guilty). They fined 10 million EUR fine to City for not cooperating with the investigation. City engaged several big law firms to defend against the ruling body. The defense aggressively pushed CAS which enabled them to fire several legal notices at UEFA in Switzerland.
Reaction from the Supporters
Supporters celebrated the decision of lifting man city ban. This team has a loyal and passionate fan base of over 110 million people around the world. However, its success and financial strength came under recently when an Arab Politician, Sheikh Mansur took over the ownership. It was the first time they had been accused of breaking fiscal rules. This is how football fans think the Arabian prince convinced Switzerland
UEFA on the other is accused of bias operations along with corruption and deliberately preventing clubs from spending freely and purchasing desired players. This has made City supporters very angry from the beginning.
They criticize the European ruling organization for creating a misdirection like FFP. What is the point of having a law if it’s targeted based on interest? Many teams have been suffering from FFP guidelines because buying high-quality talent was impossible for them.
There has been no thorough investigation on Man City UEFA ban case which led the authorities to either ignore or miss the limitation period.
Some people have expressed their disappointment with UEFA for the Man City Champions League ban lifting. It was being argued that there was no intention of ban from the beginning but UEFA only wanted to present FFP as relevant. Football is a passionate game that was born on the streets, so for spectators, its consumption by the elite does not matter and neither their rules.
What Is Financial Fair Play (FPP)?
The (FFP) regulations were established around 2011 to cap the spending of football clubs. Often in the heat of transfer window and pursuit of key players, clubs spend too much which threatens their long term survival. This rule is criticized because football fans are not naïve, they can see that this rule has no significance in terms of the game. Every club must be free to spend on whatever they want which makes it natural for them to manage their finances accordingly.
Violating the FFP results in getting banned from playing Champions League just like City was penalized. Other penalties include fine, transfer ban (unable to sell or purchase player), and the worst withholding of prize money.
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