Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday termed the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to uplift Manchester City’s two-year ban from Uefa competitions as a ‘disgrace’.
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 regulations between 2012 and 2016.
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However, CAS found that “most of the alleged breaches reported by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB (Uefa Club Financial Control Body) were either not established or time-barred”. An initial fine of 30 million euros ($34 million, £27 million) was also reduced to 10 million euros on appeal.
The former Manchester United manager said if they were guilty, City should be banned and if they were innocent, they should not have to pay a penny.
“It’s a disgraceful decision, because if Man City is not guilty then to be punished with some millions is a disgrace. If you are not guilty, you are not punished. By the other way if you are guilty you should be banned so it is also a disgraceful decision. In any case the decision is a disaster,” said Mourinho.
On Wednesday, Tottenham face Newcastle, a club which could benefit from any relaxation of FFP rules should a Saudi-backed takeover be approved by the Premier League.
And Mourinho believes that in light of the City decision, any prospective new owners will not feel the need to comply with the regulations.
“I truly believe FFP is gone,” he added. “New owners will have this feeling the circus opened the door so let’s go and enjoy it.”
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(with AFP inputs)