UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin on Man City FFP charge: 'We know we were right'

In February 2020, City were initially banned from the Champions League for two seasons for breaking FFP rules; suspension was lifted after appeal at CAS; in Premier League case, City alleged to have broken 115 financial rules over nine seasons; City unequivocally deny the allegations

Tuesday 23 January 2024 23:27, UK

Aleksander Ceferin insists UEFA were «right» about Manchester City breaching Financial Fair Play rules. 

In February 2020, City were initially banned from the Champions League for two seasons by UEFA and fined €30m (£25m) after they were found to have seriously misled European football's governing body and broken Financial Fair Play rules.

However, in July 2020, the two-season suspension was lifted after an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the fine reduced from €30m to €10m. CAS indicated that «most of the alleged breaches» were «either not established or time-barred».

In February 2023, the Premier League charged City with 115 alleged breaches of the league's financial rules over nine seasons between 2009 and 2018, during which time they won the league title three times.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters says a date has been set for that hearing, but no exact date has been specified. Manchester City deny any wrongdoing.

Ceferin, speaking to The Daily Telegraph, would not be drawn on the Premier League's case against City, but said a guilty verdict would validate UEFA's charges from 2020.

«We know we were right,» Ceferin said, in his first public comments about the Premier League case. «We wouldn't decide if we didn't think we were right.

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