UEFA's chief investigator: Manchester City could be banned from Champions League
According to a number of English newspapers, based on comments by Yves Leterme, Manchester City could be facing the "heaviest punishment".
Various English newspapers, including The Telegraph and the Daily Mail published articles this Thursday afternoon talking about the possibility Manchester City could be excluded from the Champions League for financial doping. This comes in the wake of comments by Yves Leterme, chairman and chief investigator of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body who stated to a Belgian media outlet that the English club could receive the "heaviest punishment" where revelations, previously published by Der Spiegel, prove to be true.
Claims Man City's owners flouted Financial Fair Play rules
The newspapers state that UEFA and the Premier League are investigating the possibility that money received by Manchester City in theory from sponsors Etihad (including 59.9 million British pounds in 2015) was in fact paid by the owners of the Abu Dhabi United Group which owns Manchester City. In effect, according to the claims, Manchester City owners were funding the sponsorship deals, something which is not allowed under Financial Fair Play rules.
Yves Leterme, asked about the claims by Belgian site Sport and Strategy, said "If it is true what has been written, there might be a serious problem. This can lead to the heaviest punishment: exclusion from the Uefa competitions."
