UEFA have confirmed that the ‘heaviest punishment’ would be given to Manchester City if they are found guilty of deceiving the governing body over sponsorship income. This would mean that City would be excluded from the Champions League and it would seriously damage the club’s ambitions and brand.
In an interview with Sport and Strategy, a Belgian magazine, UEFA’s Chief FFP investigator Yves Leterme said: “If what has been written about Manchester City is true, there might be a serious problem.
"This can lead to the heaviest punishment - exclusion from UEFA competitions."
“If the information is correct, this goes against the truthful reporting of financial affairs," added Leterme.
According to the report by Der Spiegel the German magazine, only £8 million of City's claimed £67.5million sponsorship deal with Etihad came from the airline in 2015, with the majority of the money coming from their owner Sheikh Mansour via his Abu Dhabi United Group.
Cast your mind back to 2014 when both City and PSG were both slapped with £49 million fines for breaking the FFP rules. Both teams were then forced to reduce the size of their Champions League squads however, in bizarre circumstances, over half of the original fine was then returned to the clubs as they complied with the punishment.
If City are to be found guilty of breaking the rules for a second time, then the punishment will be a lot more severe and if UEFA stick to their rules, they will be banned from the competition.
