MANCHESTER City’s appeal against their two-year European ban will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month.
The Lausanne-based court has scheduled a three-day hearing, starting on June 8.
Man City face a nervous wait to see if they will be admitted into next season’s Champions LeagueCredit: Reuters
And that is expected to return its verdict in time for Uefa to confirm next season’s entry lists for the Champions League.
The Etihad outfit were found to have “committed serious breaches” of financial fair play rules in February after a lengthy investigation.
City were accused of disguising millions in funding from their Abu Dhabi-based owners as legitimate sponsorship income and fined £25m in addition to the ban.
The Prem champions have always vigorously denied any claims, which they have pinpointed to the publication of “out of context” emails as part of the Football Leaks document dump.
City have publicly questioned the legitimacy of the investigation, headed by former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme.
The club branded the Uefa process as “flawed and consistently leaked”, accusing Leterme of having decided the outcome before the opening of his probe and refusing to listen to their “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.
Man United will be hoping for City’s ban to be upheldCredit: AFP or licensors
City also insisted that the chance to put their case to CAS, arguing it would allow them to “pursue an impartial judgement” from sport’s supreme legal tribunal.
Now they will get their day in court in a case that will have significant implications for Uefa’s rulebook and potentially neighbours Manchester United.
If City’s ban is upheld their spot in next year’s Champions League would be handed to the team finishing fifth in the Prem, a position currently held by United.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
