Man City face £50m fine

UK football team Manchester City face a massive £50 million fine for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

And there could also reportedly be a cap on their squad size in next season’s Champions League, limiting the team number to 21 players instead of the normal 25.

If they do get fined it could be a fee payable over three years and the team may have to freeze their Champions League spending.

Under the Financial Fair Play rules, clubs are not permitted to lose more than £37m over two seasons unless they can show that losses have been incurred by investments in club infrastructure.

Infrastructure can include youth development, academies and stadium development.

UEFA are looking closely at various seasons – 2010-2011, 2011-12 and 2012-13 – with City’s combined losses being almost £150m, with losses of almost £200m in 2010-2011.

The club’s transparency has been brought into question. The £40 million-a-year shirt and stadium sponsorship deal with Etihad, the Abu Dhabi state airline, has been questioned too, although City says the deal was at a fair market rate.

UEFA have concluded that, although some losses can be legitimately written off (City are building a £100m playing campus next to the Etihad Stadium), not all of the losses are legitimate under the FFP terms.

Since the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership takeover in 2008 they have spent more than £600m on transfer fees.

The big spending has helped them win the FA Cup in 2011, the Premier League in 2012 and the League Cup this season.

Manchester City require just four points from their remaining two games to be almost certain of winning the league this year.

Paris St Germain, which is backed by Qatari wealth, have also been hit hard by the FFP rules and face similar penalties.

Man City are said to be contesting the sanctions. However, if they disagree with the ‘settlement offer’ they may end up facing harsher restrictions.

Full details of the fine and conditions are expected in the next few days before City face West Ham at the Etihad this weekend.