Manchester City will be free to play Champions League football next season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted a two-season ban from European competitions imposed by Uefa on Monday.
The initial fine of €30 million was also reduced to €10 million on appeal. City were accused of deliberately inflating the value of income from sponsors with links to the Abu Dhabi United Group, also owned by City owner Sheikh Mansour, to avoid falling foul of financial fair play (FFP) regulations between 2012 and 2016. The case against City was reopened when German magazine Der Spiegel published a series of leaked emails in 2018.
Manchester City fans were, obviously, delighted by the verdict but it also meant that droves of opposition supporters questioned the FFP ruling.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to City managing to overturn their ban:
I just text Raheem to ask if he knew how much City paid UEFA to rescind their Champions League ban. He must not have any signal as he’s not replied yet.
— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) July 13, 2020
CAS / Manchester City ruling https://t.co/QVqZkUTzD1
— Professor Simon Chadwick (@Prof_Chadwick) July 13, 2020
I knew that UEFA were just bluffing. Did you for once think that Manchester city will struggle to qualify for champions league and won't still play
— Hart (@Hart4u_) July 13, 2020
Chelsea fans after hearing that Manchester City's two-year UEFA ban has officially been overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport🤭😅😅 pic.twitter.com/WxM8D1zJfh
— Chris kinta (@chris_gitau) July 13, 2020
#UEFA punishing financial doping by getting cut in on the action. Open season again in the market. #ManCity
— Lee Jones (@ElldotJones) July 13, 2020
'RIP FFP' is now trending in the United Kingdom.#MCFC | @ManCity
— Man City Xtra (@City_Xtra) July 13, 2020
Rival fans after hearing Manchester City champions league ban have been overturned #ManCity pic.twitter.com/KiM3Pg3HfG
— KENNY (@iam_kennybreezy) July 13, 2020
@ManCity lawyers be like: pic.twitter.com/INWquijbFP
— TheNardDog/rh (@rh_aifcb) July 13, 2020
Manchester City’s ban has been lifted on appeal. Still a fine to be paid, but a huge win for the club.
— Daniel Nakhisa (@NakhisaDaniel) July 13, 2020
Now that Manchester City’s ban is overturned it is time to activate Project Messi pic.twitter.com/ToF2bJGPvP
— ⚡️🇧🇼 (@Priceless_Silva) July 13, 2020
(With inputs from AFP)