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Man City Accepts Fine Of $84M For Violating Financial Fair Play Regulations

Man City accepted a world-record £50M ($84M) fine from UEFA and a "cap on their spending this summer after finally ending their fight to avoid a Financial Fair Play penalty," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. This year's Premier League champion "reluctantly signed up to what could prove the biggest monetary sanction ever imposed on a sports team," following its unprecedented £1B ($1.68B) spending spree under Owner Sheikh Mansour. The club's "settlement" agreement with European football’s Club Financial Control Body also "included a cut in their Champions League squad to 21 players and a ban on increasing their wages for at least a year." The deal ended a "tense stand-off between City and the CFCB's investigatory chamber over their sanction for failing to comply with rules" aimed at combating "greed, reckless spending and financial insanity." Man City threatened to "fight to the bitter end to avoid their penalty by taking their case to the CFCB’s adjudicatory chamber and beyond" (TELEGRAPH, 5/16). In London, Owen Gibson reported Man City joined Ligue 1 side Paris St. Germain, which was given a "similar penalty, and seven other clubs in accepting the first wave of FFP sanctions." Under the "complex ruling the club must also agree to a string of other conditions: maximum losses" of €20M ($27.4M) in '14 and €10M ($13.7M) in '15, to "cap their wage bill at current levels for the next two seasons" and to "significantly limit" spending in the transfer market for the same period (GUARDIAN, 5/16). Also in London, Ian Herbert reported City is "understood to have failed FFP" because UEFA took issue with a "number of the income figures they used to reach a break-even FFP." UEFA was also "suspicious of a number of several second tier Abu Dhabi sponsorship deals" -- worth an estimated £25M ($42M) --  that it suspected may be a "way of the Emiracy funding the club." City insisted that "these were legitimate and the governing body allowed them to stand, if City undertook not to increase the money they earn" in the next financial year. But though UEFA refused to "let them discount wages of players" they signed since before June '10 -- a figure of £80M on which the FFP break-even figure was contingent -- the punishment was "actually far more modest than some had expected" (INDEPENDENT, 5/16).

CITY'S STATEMENT: Man City said in a statement, "At the heart of discussions is a fundamental disagreement between the club's and Uefa's respective interpretations of the FFP regulations on players purchased before 2010. The club believes it has complied with the FFP regulations on this and all other matters. In normal circumstances, the club would wish to pursue its case and present its position through every avenue of recourse. However, our decision to do so must be balanced against the practical realities for our fans, for our partners and in the interests of the commercial operations of the club" (BBC, 5/16). In London, Oliver Kay reported City "attempted to reassure" its fans that the sanctions "should have little effect on the club's ambitions." City's statement said, "The club's expenditure on new players for the summer window, on top of income from players it might sell, will be limited to €60 million [about £49 million]. This will have no material impact on the club’s planned transfer activity" (LONDON TIMES, 5/17). City was "also scrutinized for booking tens of millions in revenue from selling image rights and consultancy fees to third parties" (AP, 5/16).

PSG FINED $82M: GOAL's Harry West reported Paris St. Germain was "hit with a fine" of €60M ($82.2M), and its Champions League squad "will be reduced to 21 players for next season." Of PSG's fine, €40M ($55M) will be returned to the club if it complies with the measures set by the CFCB. A UEFA statement "explained that the club had agreed to 'significantly limit spending in the transfer market for seasons 2014-15 and 2015-16.'" UEFA explained that the "primary objective of the settlement was to make sure that PSG become break-even compliant 'in a short space of time.'" PSG released a statement "noting that they accept the measures," in spite of the "tremendous handicap they represent in terms of the club's ability to fully compete on an equal footing against Europe's biggest teams" (GOAL, 5/16).

ADDITIONAL VIOLATIONS: SKY SPORTS reported Turkish side Galatasaray, Russian sides Zenit St. Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala have failed UEFA's FFP rules. It is "little surprise that Galatasaray, Zenit and Anzhi all failed FFP rules given the level of spending by the clubs in recent years compared to their income." That spending caused a "financial crisis at Anzhi, who were relegated from the Russian top flight earlier this week" (SKY SPORTS, 5/16).

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