UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has said the European football’s governing body was ‘right’ to expel Manchester City from European competition for breaching its Financial Fairplay regulations (FFP).
City were handed a two-year ban from European competition and fined £ 25 million in February 2020 after they were found guilty of breaking FFP rules and misleading UEFA.
The ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport seven months later, but City now face potential action from the Premier League.
Now, Ceferin has said he understands the anger from supporters and other clubs over the length of time the case has taken.
Last season’s Treble-winners were charged by the League with an extraordinary 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations in February last year, following a five-year investigation that began in 2018.
Ceferin refused to speak on the Premier League’s investigation, but remained adamant UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body made the right call four years ago and believes they will be vindicated.
‘We know we were right,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘We wouldn’t decide if we didn’t think we were right.
‘I trust that the decision of our independent body was correct.’
City, who have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, had their ban overturned by CAS on the grounds that some of the accusations were unproven and some of the evidence against them was time-barred.
The Premier League have previously accused City of using delaying tactics to stall their own investigation, but Richard Masters confirmed last week a date had been set for the trial.
