Manchester City have been banned from the Champions League for the next two seasons by UEFA. The reigning Premier League champions have also been fined £25million for ‘serious breaches’ of financial regulations. The ban prevents City from playing in any European competition, including the Europa League, until the 2022-23 season. City announced that they were appealing the suspension to the Court of Arbiration for Sport at the earliest chance.
“The adjudicatory chamber, having considered all the evidence, has found that Manchester City Football Club committed serious breaches of the UEFA club licensing and financial fair play regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016,” UEFA said in a statement. City has already been punished by UEFA for violating FFP, striking an agreement in 2014 that saw the team fined rather than banned from the Champions League for inflated sponsorship deals with companies linked to the club or its ownership.