The Athletic’s Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee has recently provided some information on the situation surrounding the club’s UEFA ban.
Lee was recently present on the Totally Football Show podcast and James Richardson had asked him about Man City’s case involving their recent UEFA ban and what the final decision from UEFA could be next month.
Lee then talked about the various possibilities, when it comes to the club’s appeal against the ban. He said that he doesn’t take rumours about a potential settlement ‘seriously at all’ and said that he can’t ‘envisage’ a settlement that suits both parties.
The journalist said: “Obviously, I can’t see a settlement saying that City don’t get banned at all. I don’t think you ever would be very happy with that. I really don’t know and I wouldn’t be surprised if it got cut to one year. But I’ve realised that’s basically the sports law version of sitting on the fence.
“If I had to put my money on something, it would probably be the ban sticking but being reduced to one year but that’s really just based on going right down the middle because there’s really strong arguments on both sides.”
Will Man City's UEFA ban get reduced to one season?
Surely!
I don't think so
Back in February, Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) had banned City from European competition for two years and had fined the club £25 million for ‘serious breaches’ of Financial Fair Play regulations.
A three-day hearing was recently conducted into the matter more recently, with a decision set to be announced in the first half of July.
TIF Thoughts…
Lee’s comments about the matter do provide some clarity into what the final decision could be, even though there might still be uncertainty about the situation. Man City fans can only hope that the decision is a positive one for the club and that they can see City play in the Champions League next season.
The least they can hope for is that the ban gets reduced to only one season and Lee’s comments would give them optimism, in that regard. But it seems as though they’d have to wait until July.