The Court of Arbitration for Sport has overturned the decision to ban Man City from UEFA competitions.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have ruled that Manchester City did not disguise equity funding as sponsorship contributions, and have therefore overturned the decision to ban the club from UEFA competitions.
CAS did rule that Man City failed to cooperate with the UEFA authorities, and will be fined €10 million ($11.3 million) as a result, reduced from €30 million.
In February 2020, UEFA banned City from UEFA competition for two seasons, and issued a fine of €30m, having adjudged that they had broken Financial Fair Play regulations.
These sanctions came as the result of an investigation by UEFA into the club’s finances between 2012 and 2016, and emails obtained by German magazine Der Spiegel which suggested the club had overstated its sponsorship revenue from Etihad Airways.
City contested that the emails were “hacked” or “stolen” and, maintaining their innocence, appealed to CAS against the decision.
The result of the appeal was published in a CAS statement on June 13. A section of it read:
“Following the hearing, the CAS Panel deliberated and concluded that the decision issued on 14 February 2020 by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB [UEFA Club Financial Control Body] should be set aside and replaced by the following:
“a) MCFC has contravened Article 56 of the Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.
