City shambles makes mockery of UEFA rules

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola hailed the overturning of the club's European ban this week as "a good day for football", however the rest of the soccer world begged to differ.

On Monday, the Court of Arbitration of Sport removed big-spending City's two-year suspension from European competition for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules and reduced a 30 million euros ($34 million) fine to 10 million euros ($11.4 million).

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho described the decision as a "disaster", while Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp declared it was "not a good day for football".

That too was the assessment of fans who had hoped City's UEFA punishment signaled that the powers-that-be were finally tackling soccer's ever-widening wealth gap.

City's rapid transformation from mid-table mediocrity to six-time Premier League champion has been bankrolled by the billions of Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour, who took over the club in 2008.

The team's seemingly endless stream of cash has allowed it to easily outbid rivals in the transfer market, with Paris Saint-Germain's takeover by Qatari investors affording the French club similar spending power.

UEFA's FFP regulations are designed to curb such extravagance, with City last year found in breach of the rules after being accused of overstating sponsorship revenue in accounts and failing to co-operate with the investigation.

However, the CAS ruling found that "most of the alleged breaches reported were either not established or time-barred".

The decision means that City will be able to play in next season's Champions League－much to the relief of Guardiola.

"Yesterday was a good day for football, because we played with the same Financial Fair Play rules as all the clubs in Europe," said the Spaniard, who has one year left on his City contract. "People said we were cheating and lying, and many times the presumption of innocence was not there.

"The elite clubs have to understand we deserve to be here. We want to go on the pitch and compete with them. We deserve to get stronger year by year."

Guardiola went as far to say City "should be apologized" to.

"If we did something wrong, we will accept the decision. But we have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct. Three independent judges said this," he added.

Tottenham manager Mourinho, an arch-rival of ex-Barcelona boss Guardiola since the Portuguese's time in charge of Real Madrid, said the CAS decision could herald the end for FFP.

"If Man City is not guilty of it, to be punished by some millions is a disgrace. In the other way, if you're guilty you should be banned. In any case, it's a disaster.

"I think it's going to be the end of Financial Fair Play, because there is no point, and I repeat, and it's the only thing I repeat because it's clear in my mind."

Liverpool manager Klopp said he was "happy that City can play in the Champions League" but added: "I don't think it was a good day for football yesterday.

"Just because I think FFP is a good idea. It's there for protecting teams, protecting the competition.

"That was the idea at the start, that nobody overspends and stuff like this. Clubs have to make sure that money they want to spend is based on the right sources."

The German added: "I really hope that FFP stays because it gives at least kind of borders that you can go to but not over, which is good for football. If you start doing it so that nobody cares anymore, the richest people or countries can do what they want to do.

"I think that would automatically lead to a world super league, with like 10 clubs."

UEFA recognized in a statement that many of the allegations against City fell outside the five-year time limit in its own regulations.

And former Manchester United defender Gary Neville accused the governing body of incompetence.

"UEFA can't get a simple disciplinary hearing right－we've known that for years and years," he told Sky Sports.

"It's no surprise that in a serious court that Man City have won this case because UEFA are an organization that simply cannot organize their own disciplinary measures."

Neville, though, is not a fan of FFP and called for new regulations to be devised.

"It's fundamentally wrong that there are restrictions placed on owners to put money into football clubs," he said.

"Whether it's Chelsea, Man City or Blackburn, all those (success) stories we've had in the Premier League over the last 20 years or so, the additions to challenging Manchester United, Arsenal and other clubs wouldn't have happened if FFP had been implemented in its truest form.

"There has always been rich owners investing into football clubs and that won't change today. FFP needs changing to a different model."