Factbox - Manchester City's European ban overturned by CAS

Manchester City's David Silva celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Kevin De Bruyne, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Michael Regan/Pool via REUTERS

Manchester City's David Silva celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Kevin De Bruyne, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Michael Regan/Pool via REUTERS

(Reuters): Factbox on Premier League club Manchester City's two-year UEFA ban from European soccer which was was overturned by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) on Monday.

 

* In February, Manchester City were banned from European competition for the next two seasons and fined 30 million euros ($33.95 million) by European Soccer's governing body UEFA after an investigation into alleged breaches of its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

 

* FFP rules, introduced in 2011, are designed to prevent clubs receiving unlimited funds through inflated sponsorship deals with organisations related to owners.

Clubs that breach rules can be barred from European competition but negotiated settlements are more common.

 

* UEFA opened an investigation into City in March 2019 after the publication of 'Football Leaks' documents led to allegations that the club's Abu Dhabi owners inflated sponsorship agreements to comply with the FFP requirements.

 

* The leaked documents included club emails which referred to money being "routed" through sponsors. Reuters was unable to verify if such payments were made.

 

* As well as questioning the nature of the documents, City were unhappy at the way in which UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) conducted the investigation.

 

* The CFCB said when City were banned that the club broke rules by "overstating sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016".

It added the club had "failed to cooperate in the investigation".

 

* City denied any wrongdoing, adding they had not received a fair hearing and appealed to sport's highest court.

 

* CAS said on Monday after overturning the ban that City would be fined 10 million euros for failing to cooperate with UEFA.