Man City ban timeline: From Der Spiegel claims to European club competition ban
- Published
Uefa has handed Manchester City a two-season European club competition ban and a 30m euros (£25m) fine after it found the club guilty of committing "serious breaches" of the governing body's club licensing and financial fair play regulations.
Below is a timeline of events:
5 November, 2018: German publication Der Spiegel claims Manchester City and their sponsors manipulated contracts to circumvent Uefa's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. The German news magazine says the club allegedly misled Uefa by not revealing they had directed money to the club from Abu Dhabi owner Sheikh Mansour via sponsors linked to him, and artificially inflated the value of their commercial income to help meet FFP rules requiring clubs to break even. City say they will not be commenting on the claims.
March 2019: Uefa begins investigating the club for potential breaches of its FFP regulations. It says: "The investigation will focus on several alleged violations of FFP that were recently made public in various media outlets."
13 May, 2019: The New York Times, external reports that members of the investigatory chamber of Uefa's financial watchdog - the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), which is effectively the 'prosecution' in this process - were pushing for expulsion from the Champions League for at least one season.
16 May, 2019: City say they are "disappointed, but regrettably not surprised" after being referred to Uefa's financial control body adjudicatory chamber.
June 2019: City file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). They challenge Uefa's decision to refer them to its financial watchdog, the CFCB, which would decide on any punishment.
November 2019: City fail in an initial bid to have Cas halt Uefa's investigation.
12 February, 2020: Cas publishes documents that show City sought damages from Uefa for what they alleged were "unlawful" leaks to the media with regards to an inquiry into possible FFP breaches. The documents also show senior Uefa official Yves Leterme had dismissed the club's claims, stating they were "groundless" and "unacceptable in tone".
14 February, 2020: City are banned from European club competition for the next two seasons after being found to have committed "serious breaches" of Uefa's club licensing and financial fair play regulations. The Premier League champions say they are "disappointed but not surprised" by the "prejudicial" decision and will appeal.