JAKARTA - One of the 'legacies' of the decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday, July 13, was the overturning of Manchester City's two-year ban from European competition. CAS believes, the allegations against City are not proven. UEFA, on their side, acknowledged the ruling without commenting further.
Previously, UEFA found that the English club had violated Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, and had been set to miss European football for two years. However, CAS reversed the decision yesterday.
This is an important case where a club is found to be breaking the rules. But now, the sentence cannot last for various reasons that are not clear.
The CAS ruled that the allegations were time-barred, because UEFA rules stipulate a law that prosecutions are valid for five years. As a result, the lifting of the City ban was considered a defeat for UEFA's Club Financial Supervisory Agency (CFCB).
It is easy for UEFA to sanction small teams of Turkey, Greece and even Spain under the pretext of the FFP. But when the current two European sports giants, PSG and Manchester City, are on the firing line, their guns are empty.
The fact that football requires money from certain clubs is undeniable. The proof is, when these big clubs do whatever they like, whether it's by the rules or not, UEFA is toothless.
What's even more painful is that people actually stopped believing in the FFP concept last year. At that time Paris Saint-Germain signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the same summer transfer window.
UEFA takes note of the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce the sanction imposed on Manchester City FC ...
- UEFA (@UEFA) July 13, 2020
CAS then dropped an investigation into the French club, which UEFA did not respond to. Obviously, the FFP must change. La Liga President Javier Tebas even commented on the cancellation of City's sentence.
"We have to consider whether the CAS is the right body to appeal the decisions of the football institution," Tebas told MARCA. "Switzerland is a country with a great reputation in the world of arbitration, the CAS is not up to the task."
Monday's verdict has been a sledgehammer for clubs that follow the rules and try and hold themselves financially accountable as they compete on the pitch.
For City, this is a gift. In addition to having their ban canceled, their fines - originally 30 million euros - were also discounted to 10 million euros. As for the big teams in the Blue Continent, they are no longer afraid of the FFP concept. Yes, they will definitely break it again.
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