UEFA did not handle Manchester City's FFP case properly, claims Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

07/28/2020

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Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has slammed UEFA for the way they’ve handled Manchester City’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) case. City’s two-year ban was overturned with their penalty of €30 million reduced to €10 million, which raised questions regarding the way the UEFA operates.

Manchester City were handed a two-ban from the Champions League, in February, after the club was found guilty of breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules between 2012 and 2016. The Premier League club took legal actions against the ruling, while the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) looked at all the evidence before drawing a final conclusion. The ban on Manchester City was eventually overturned while the fine imposed was reduced from €30 million to €10 million. However, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge doesn't believe that the UEFA did a good enough job and criticized the body for the way they’ve handled Manchester City’s case.

“I believe the final decision made by CAS was an outcome because the UEFA panel responsible for Champions League matters didn’t do a great job, it’s looking like. What I heard from different sources is that it was not well organized in advance. We have to modify Financial Fair Play because in the past 10 years, football has changed dramatically in [terms of] the financial behaviour and so we have to find different tools,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, as reported by Goal.com.

In spite of criticizing the decision, the German official congratulated Manchester City for being able to participate in the Champions League next season and also the season after. Both the clubs were involved in a swap deal which saw winger Leroy Sane complete a €60m move to Munich from the Etihad Stadium on July 3.

"Congrats to the colleagues of Manchester City that they can participate next year in the Champions League and the year after as well," he added.