Manchester City's players have already qualified for next year's Champions League. (Photo: AP)
England's Manchester City Football Club has won its appeal against a two-year ban from the European Champions League competition.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted a two-season ban from European competitions imposed by the continent's football governing body, UEFA, and an initial fine of 30 million euros ($34 million) for failing to cooperate with UEFA was reduced to 10 million euros ($11.3 million).
The club is still in this year's delayed competition and has already qualified for next season's competition – the elite contest for European teams – by securing a guaranteed second place in England's Premier League this year.
Manchester City was accused of inflating the value of income from sponsors with links to the Abu Dhabi United Group, also owned by the club's owner, to avoid falling foul of financial fair play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
It followed German magazine Der Spiegel publishing a series of leaked emails in 2018.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that City did not breach Financial Fair Play rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship.
"Most of the alleged breaches reported by the [UEFA] Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB (Club Financial Control Body) were either not established or time-barred," CAS said in a statement.
CAS said its full legal ruling, with details of the case and the decision, would be published in the coming days.
The club welcomed the decision: "Whilst Manchester City and its legal advisers are yet to review the full ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club welcomes the implications of today's ruling as a validation of the club's position and the body of evidence that it was able to present
"The club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered."
UEFA said it remained committed to the financial fair play system, which limits clubs to not losing more than 30 million euros ($34 million), with exceptions for some costs such as youth development and women's teams, over a three-year period.
