Manchester City’s appeal against their two-year ban from UEFA competitions will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport between June 8-10.
The reigning Premier League champions were hit with the punishment in February after they were found to have committed “serious breaches” of UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play (FFP) regulations.
UEFA’s independent Adjudicatory Chamber of its Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) also fined City €30million (£27.2m) after finding they had overstated sponsorship revenues in accounts submitted to European football’s governing body between 2012 and 2016.
City have persistently denied wrongdoing in relation to the matter, which stemmed from a series of articles published by Der Spiegel in November 2018, drawing on information purportedly obtained by the whistleblower Football Leaks.
“The club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position,” read a statement at the time from City, who UEFA said had “failed to cooperate” with the investigation.
Whether or not City are able to have their ban cut or quashed is likely to have a huge impact on their future planning.
Manager Pep Guardiola is out of contract in June 2021, although the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss reiterated his commitment in the aftermath of UEFA announcing their punishment.
“Unless they sack me, which can happen, I will not leave,” he said. “Why should I? I love this club, I like to be here, and after we have seen the sentence [appeal] we will focus on what we have to do.
“I want to stay to continue to help the club and maintain this level as long as possible. That’s not just because I have a contract, we want to fight to the end for the people who support this club.”
In an interview with HLN this month, star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne suggested he might be happy to stay at City in the event of a reduction to a one-year ban, although a two-year Champions League absence would force him to consider his options.
“I’m just waiting,” he said “The club told us they are going to appeal, and they are almost 100 hundred per cent sure they are right. That’s why I’m waiting to see what will happen. I trust my team.
“Once the decision is made, I will review everything. Two years would be long, but in the case of one year I might see.”
Despite winning six of the past seven domestic trophies on offer in England, Champions League success has proved elusive for City and a pause in trying to tackle that final frontier would be a considerable blow in financial and sporting terms.
In this season’s competition, which was halted along with the rest of elite European football due to the coronavirus pandemic, goals from Gabriel Jesus and De Bruyne gave them a 2-1 win at Real Madrid in the first leg of a last-16 encounter.
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