Pep Guardiola faces a huge test of his loyalty to Manchester City after his club were hit with a stunning two-year suspension from UEFA competitions on Friday.
City have been banned from the Champions League and Europa League for the next two seasons and fined 30 million euros (£24.9 million) after UEFA found them guilty of committing “serious breaches” of financial regulations.
The Premier League champions overstated sponsorship revenue in accounts submitted between 2012 and 2016, according to European football’s governing body.
Announcing the ban a UEFA statement declared: “The Adjudicatory Chamber has imposed disciplinary measures on Manchester City Football Club directing that it shall be excluded from participation in UEFA club competitions in the next two seasons (ie. the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons).”
UEFA also said City failed to cooperate with an investigation into the matter launched by its Club Financial Control Body.
The shock punishment will cost City an estimated £170 million in lost Champions League revenue and the club reacted furiously, immediately vowing to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“Manchester City is disappointed but not surprised by today’s announcement by the UEFA Adjudicatory Chamber,” a statement read.
“The club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position.”
But, while City urgently plan their appeal, the football world waits to see how Guardiola reacts to a punishment that could convince the Spaniard to quit the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season.
Guardiola reportedly has a break clause in his contract which means he can depart at the conclusion of this campaign should certain stipulations be met that satisfy the City hierarchy.
City officials were said to be confident that, despite an underwhelming season which has seen them fall 22 points behind runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool, Guardiola would honour a contract that currently ties him to the club until 2021.
But staying with City now European football could be off limits is likely to be a rather more unappetising prospect for Guardiola.
Boost for CL hopefuls
Guardiola’s City outfit currently sit second in the Premier League table, meaning that the fourth Champions League slot available for English teams would likely go to the fifth-placed club this term.
Sheffield United, promoted to the top flight last year, sit in fifth.
It is not the first time that Man City have fallen foul of FFP regulations, having been fined 60 million euros and seeing their Champions League squad reduced in May 2014.
Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain were also fined that year.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan were banned from this season’s Europa League for FFP breaches.
La Liga president Javier Tebas applauded UEFA for their sanctions of Man City, saying: “UEFA is finally taking decisive action.
“Enforcing the rules of financial fair play and punishing financial doping is essential for the future of football... we finally have a good example of action.”
What did City do wrong?
City have been found to be in breach of UEFA’s financial fair play rules, which place restrictions on how much money a club can lose.
Over a three-year period, clubs are not permitted to lose more than 30 million euros with exceptions for some costs such as youth development and women’s teams.
UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body found that City ensured they did not fall foul of those restrictions by overstating their sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016.
The case against City was reopened when German magazine Der Spiegel published a series of leaked emails in 2018 that seemed to show how City had manufactured extra sponsorship revenue from a series of companies with connections to the Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by Sheikh Mansour.
City strenuously deny that accusation.
The consequences of a ban
Should City’s appeal fail, there could be repercussions for the futures of manager Pep Guardiola and a host of star players.
Guardiola’s contract runs until the end of the 2020/21 season, but the only major task left for the Catalan in Manchester is to make City European champions for the first time.
Guardiola suggested this week he could even be sacked if his side fail to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League last-16 but while that is highly unlikely, he may not want to hang around for another season if there are only domestic prizes up for grabs.
Similarly, players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling are unlikely to want to waste two of their peak years without Champions League football.
It would still take huge fees from rival clubs to tempt City to sell, but they may be forced to downsize to gain re-entry to the Champions League even after their ban is over.
City made 93 million euros from UEFA prize money and TV rights from last season’s Champions League, with gate receipts and extra sponsorship revenue from Europe’s premier club competition added to that tally.
It would be almost impossible for the club to lose that level of revenue for two years and remain FFP-compliant without cutting costs on transfer fees and wages, or selling players.
The sanctions may not even have stopped with UEFA. A Premier League investigation into City’s compliance with FFP is also ongoing and could result in a points deduction.