LaLiga chief Javier Tebas claims Man City MUST ‘receive the sanction they deserve’ in ‘trial of the century’ – and slams CAS for overturning UEFA’s decision to ban City from Europe
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has called for Manchester City to be punished in their ‘trial of the century’.
A total of 115 charges are being brought against City for alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules. The independent hearing is expected to last around 10 weeks, with a verdict expected next spring.
Tebas’ comments obviously suggest that City are somehow at fault, but the club denies all allegations.
“The Premier League shouldn’t give in to pressure, right? Manchester City is just a club, and when you run a club you have to act,” he said GiveMeSport.
‘The Premier League should not discriminate between big and small, or important and “non-important” clubs. Manchester City is a member of the association that committed irregularities and should receive the sanction it deserves. Otherwise, the authority of the league will be lost.’
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has claimed Manchester City should be punished and that the ‘authority of the Premier League will be lost’ if they do not.
Manchester City faces 115 charges for breaching Financial Fair Play rules and regulations
54 of the charges relate to City’s alleged failure to provide the league with accurate and up-to-date financial information between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
Thirty-five of those relate to their alleged refusal to cooperate with the Premier League investigation into their conduct between December 2018 and February 2023.
If City are found guilty of the most serious charges, it could lead to relegation from the Premier League.
In 2020, UEFA suspended City from European competition for two seasons after they were found guilty of falsely inflating sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016. That followed revelations by German outlet Der Spiegel, which published the first of its allegations in 2018 based on documents obtained by it through Football Leaks.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned their suspension later that year and reduced their fine from £25.3 million to £8.4 million. Man City called UEFA’s ruling “flawed and damaging”.
Tebas added: “There are more than 115 allegations. I don’t know everything, but I know what happened regarding Manchester City’s UEFA case, and quite well. Let’s not forget that UEFA sanctioned City by not allowing them to participate in the Champions League.
‘Then CAS, in a very controversial decision, acquitted them instead of charging them. I would say that was one of the biggest failures in the history of CAS in the legal field.
It was demonstrated [by UEFA] that they should have been punished and a number of those allegations are now being pursued by the Premier League.
Tebas believes it was one of the CAS’s ‘biggest failures’ to overturn City’s ban from European competition by UEFA
A verdict on the 115 charges against Manchester City is not expected until the spring or summer of 2025
The Man City trial will take place at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in central London
| Type of infringement | Number of infringement charges | Start date of the process | Date of decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information from 2009-10 to 2017-18 | 54 | Monday, September 16, 2024 | Spring or summer 2025 |
| Failure to provide accurate financial reports on player and manager remuneration from 2009-10 to 2017-18 | 14 | ” ” | ” ” |
| Failure to comply with UEFA regulations, including the UEFA Club and Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations | 5 | ” ” | ” ” |
| Breaches of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules from the 2015-16 to the 2017-18 season | 7 | ” ” | ” ” |
| Failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 to date | 35 | ” ” | ” ” |
“I can tell you that everyone knows how City have acted in recent years. I hope it is just a matter of evidence and that the Premier League knows how to prove it properly, because the facts are clear. I have spoken to many Premier League clubs and most of them understand that City must be punished.”
He previously hit out at City in a bid to protect the interests of Spanish football, telling Mundo Deportivo: ‘They have an economic dumping that was damaging to Spanish football. We couldn’t do that because it would be going back to 2010, when clubs disappeared because of debt.’