Manchester City Appeals Its Champions League Ban and Awaits Its Fate

Such is the sensitivity around the case, though, that little was made public before the hearing this week, including the identity of the three-member panel that heard the appeal, as is customary. The arbitration panel heard the case over video link because of travel restrictions imposed to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement, it said a verdict would most likely be announced by “the first half of July.”

“At the end of the hearing, both parties expressed their satisfaction with respect to the conduct of the procedure,” the court said in an emailed statement.

At the heart of the case against City is a claim that it disguised millions of dollars of direct investment by its owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, as sponsorship income, with one document published by the German news weekly Der Spiegel appearing to show that the team’s main sponsor, the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, paid only a fraction of an $85 million sponsorship agreement.

City has denounced the use of “out-of-context materials purportedly hacked or stolen,” and it continues to contend that the leaks are part of an “organized and clear attempt to damage the club’s reputation.”

The repercussions of the verdict will be significant; Manchester City earns about $100 million a season for participating, and its exclusion — and the loss of those payments — could make it more difficult to retain staff members and players or acquire new ones.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/sports/soccer/manchester-city-champion-league-ban.html