Man City’s appeal against Champions League ban begin

Manchester City and United have decided - not to furlough staff

The Premier League outfit have launched an appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Manchester City have previously been banned from the UEFA Champions League for two seasons because of financial discrepancies.

The appeal process begins today and it will be interesting to see if CAS decide to uphold the ban.

Apparently, they have broken UEFA’s financial fairplay rules and they will have to convince the judges now that they are innocent. 

Missing out on the Champions League for two seasons could be disastrous for City. 

Not only do they miss out on the prestigious tournament, they will lose revenues of around £200m as well.

Furthermore, the star players might want to leave the club. Players like Kevin De Bruyne will not want to lose their peak years at a club without European football.

The Belgian midfielder hinted something similar earlier this year. The same could be said about Aguero and Sterling. 

It remains to be seen how CAS handle the appeal now.

UEFA seem adamant that the rules have been broken and City deserve punishement. Furthermore, there is pressure from other European clubs to dish out appropriate punishment as well. 

When the decision was announced in February, Manchester City’s chief executive Ferran Soriano said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the decision.

“The fans can be sure of two things,” he said. “The first one is that the allegations are false. The second is that we will do everything that can be done to prove it.”