‘Everyone knows’ Man City breached FFP regulations – La Liga president
La Liga president Javier Tebas has claimed Manchester City will be in the Champions League next season because of the Court of Arbitration for Sport “did things badly.”
The Spanish league chief claims “everyone knows” City breached UEFA’s financial fair play regulations and claimed there was “no surprise” amongst people involved in European football that they had been banned.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed on Monday that the club had been cleared of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions” and would be allowed to enter into European competitions as normal.
Back in February, the club had received a two-year ban from playing in the Champions League or Europa League following a lengthy investigation from UEFA – the governing body of European football, but that decision has now been reversed.
Tebas said on Monday, as quoted by BBC Sport: “We have to reassess whether the CAS is the appropriate body to which to appeal institutional decisions in football.
“Switzerland is a country with a great history of arbitration, the CAS is not up to standard.”
The Spanish league chief has been outspoken in recent years of Manchester City’s ownership and he had welcomed the decision back in February to ban the club from Europe for two seasons, having accused them of ‘financial doping’.
However, Guardiola has now responded directly to the comments from Tebas as he told reporters on Tuesday: “Señor Tebas must be so jealous of the Premier League.
“He’s an incredible legal expert. Next time I’ll ask him which judges we have to go to. He has to focus on La Liga. He is one of these people: when the sentence goes for him, it’s perfect, it happened many times in Spain.
“When the decision goes against him there are problems. Señor Tebas we will be in the Champions League next season.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas maintains 'the majority' of people believe Man City broke FFP rules and says: 'FFP is dead'https://t.co/0SL73okUcg
— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) July 16, 2020
Now, Tebas has hit back once again at former Barcelona boss Guardiola and he is adamant that City’s return to Europe is a result of the Court of Arbitration for Sport making errors in their judgement.
“We all know what City do,” Tebas told an interview with ESPN reporter Fernando Palomo, in quotes translated by ESPN FC. “When they were punished [by UEFA originally], there was no surprise among the majority of us involved in European football.
“I don’t want to say [people were] happy, but at last there was a sense of justice against these big state-owned clubs, the other being Paris Saint-Germain.
“In contrast, when the CAS reversed the decision, there were protests – from Klopp, Mourinho – because we all know they’re trying to find a way around the FFP rules. As (Liverpool boss, Jurgen) Klopp said, it was a bad day for football.
“City will be in the Champions League next season because the CAS did things badly, not because City have done things properly.
“I would like to see the CAS’s final resolution. When it’s released and I read it, I will say what I am convinced about to Guardiola, that they haven’t done things properly. They’ve done things badly at the CAS.
“City, in the last five years, along with PSG, are the club that have spent the most. City haven’t signed with their own resources, like Manchester United do, who bring in money through television or sponsors. They sign with petrodollars, with money obtained through oil by the [owners in the] United Arab Emirates.
He's still not having it #mcfc https://t.co/6r5juRHuHW
— Manchester City News (@ManCityMEN) July 15, 2020
Read Also: Man City boss hits back at ‘jealous’ La Liga president Tebas
“The state-owned clubs in Europe do what they want. Fictitious sponsors, naming rights [for stadiums] in the case of Man City. The Etihad Stadium is not worth [what is paid for it] and that creates a very dangerous economic situation for us.”
Tebas also added if there was a future of Financial Fair Play: “The CAS is dead. I’ve had doubts about the CAS for many years, not just because of this resolution, but for many more. It’s the opposite of what it should be; there’s no transparency.”