Manchester City can play in the UEFA Champions League next season after the two-year ban handed down by European soccer’s governing body in February for violating so-called financial fair play rules was overturned on appeal by the Court for Arbitration in Sport.
The Switzerland-based court delivered its verdict on Monday morning. In its statement announcing the news, the CAS said that Manchester City “did not disguise equity funding as sponsorship contributions but did fail to cooperate with UEFA authorities.”
While the club will still be forced to pay an $11.3 million fine, it now has the green light to compete in the world’s most prestigious club competition, an event that it has been desperate to win since emerging as a global power in the 2010s under the stewardship of its deep-pocketed, Abu Dhabi-based owners.