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Manchester City have had a fair enough season till now. They are back to winning ways and are one of the title contenders after defeating table-toppers Liverpool by a margin of 2-1, thanks to strikes from Aguero and Sane. They also topped their UCL group and are looking good at the moment, but the future for City in Europe doesn't!
According to reports, the UAE-owned club could be banned from the UEFA Champions league if found guilty in breaking the Financial Fair Play Regulations. This ban could be imposed on the basis of the sponsorship deal that Manchester City owners have done with the Etihad Airlines.
Currently, the matter is looked into jointly by the UEFA and the Premier League, with the head of the Club Financial Control Body, Yves Leterme, saying:
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. If the information is correct, this possibly goes against truthful reporting. The FFP rules are based on a system of declaration, three months after the clubs have closed their accounts, they have to deposit their figures. Then we do random checks on the truthfulness of those figures. The accounts are examined and approved internally and externally.
According to reports in German magazine Der Spiegel and based on evidence from a Football Leaks cache of documents, City's owners have allegedly funded their own sponsorship deals to stay within FFP regulations.
It is claimed the Abu Dhabi United Group, the holding company which owns City, directly paid £59.5 million of Etihad's annual sponsorship, with only £8 million coming from the airline.
But as of now, City has had a history of breaching the FFP Regulations since the take over by the Emirati owners as they had to pay a hefty fine of €49 million euros in 2014 for the same.
