By Manchester City, the English Premier League champion, will find out on Monday, July 13, whether it has successfully appealed its two-year ban from European soccer’s elite Champions League.
The club, which has angrily denied breaking cost-control rules and vowed to fight any punishment, presented its defense during a three-day hearing conducted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that concluded on Wednesday. Lawyers representing UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, which imposed the ban, defended their decision.
Manchester City, backed by the billionaire brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, was punished in February after a lengthy investigation by UEFA concluded the club had committed “serious breaches” of so-called financial fair play rules, regulations designed to prevent clubs from spending beyond their means.
City reacted to the decision, which would deny the club as much as $200 million in Champions League payouts as well as the chance to claim the title it covets the most, by charging that the disciplinary process had been prejudicial.
It vowed to present “irrefutable evidence” to CAS that would clear the team.
The arbitration panel heard the case over video link because of travel restrictions imposed to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement, it said a verdict would most likely be announced by “the first half of July.”
“At the end of the hearing, both parties expressed their satisfaction with respect to the conduct of the procedure,” the court said in an emailed statement.
Days after UEFA announced its ban, City’s Spanish chief executive, Ferran Soriano, said in an interview broadcast on the club’s website that “based on our experience and our perception, this seems to be less about justice and more about politics.”
The ban has no effect on this year’s Champions League, a competition that City has yet to win in spite of years of lavish spending under its Gulf owners. The team is well placed to reach the quarterfinals after defeating Real Madrid in the away leg of their two-game round of 16 series. UEFA expects the competition to resume in August, after the conclusion of the rearranged domestic league schedule.
