The Sports Arbitral Tribunal (TAS), supreme court of the sports world, decided Monday to allow on appeal Manchester City to participate in the next European cups, while the English club was initially sentenced to two years suspension for breaches of the financial fair play rules.

"Manchester City did not disguise its sponsorship contracts, but failed to cooperate with UEFA" - the body that manages European football - explains the CAS in its decision.

The Mancunian club, owned by the Emiratis and trained by Pep Guardiola, is therefore only ordered to pay a fine of 10 million euros, instead of the 30 million euros initially decided in February by UEFA, which accused the Skyblues of '' overvalued its advertising revenue for the period 2012-2016.

The British contested their exclusion from the European Cups by UEFA for non-compliance with financial fair play, a rule in force since 2011 by the European football confederation to limit club deficits.

The CAS decision is therefore a relief for Manchester City, since the financial losses incurred by an absence from the European scene would have largely exceeded 100 million euros per year and would not have been without consequences for the lifestyle of the club English.

Major players could have been tempted to leave the club to participate in the C1, a threat which is no longer current.

In a press release made public, almost at the same time as the CAS decision, Manchester City "welcomes the implications of today's decision, which validates its position and all the evidence it has been able to present".

With AFP

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