Manchester City have been handed a devastating blow after UEFA confirmed that the Premier League champions have been banned from European club competitions for the next two seasons.
The decision has been made by UEFA after Manchester City were found to have committed “serious breaches” of Uefa’s club licensing and financial fair play regulations. City have also been fined 30m euros (£25m).
Former great England striker turned popular football pundit Gary Lineker has taken to social networking site Twitter to express his reaction after the news broke out.
Blimey. @ManCity banned for 2 years from UEFA competitions. 😳
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 14, 2020
Wondering if Premier League will still have 4 teams in the Champions League? As @ManCity will clearly be in top 4 will 5th get the spot or will we just have 3 clubs in the competition? @RobHarris @danroan @david_conn
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 14, 2020
The decision is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. When Sky Sports journalist Mark Austin claimed City will take that route, Lineker aimed a cheeky dig at the mega-rich club, saying “Not sure they can afford the legal fees.”
Not sure they can afford the legal fees. https://t.co/8EWTPocB3C
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 14, 2020
Many football fans have responded to Lineker’s tweet quickly. Here are some of the selected tweets:
@GaryLineker they are lucky it wasn’t Premier League points they were docked. It would be all over in a fortnight if it was.
— Marie T Coghlan (@mtc30) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/JabHookNQPR/status/1228392334649430017?s=20
They'll go to VAR
— Irish Emergency Logistics Team 🇮🇪 (@irishelt) February 14, 2020
Ffs @GaryLineker stop. You're keeping the Liverpool lot out of bed.
— slippytit (@Slippytit1) February 15, 2020
FIFA/UEFA not a democracy…rather kleptocracy… strange rules… very tribal
— Car-Na-Fore (@tacootje) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/gurbsbassi1/status/1228395192664936449?s=20
Its totally disgusting….. but we will all watch the Qatar world cup in Christmas like……… that was a mint goal for Brazil by kevincharlison…. football. bloody hell
— howieboss (@howieboss) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/littledarkpoet1/status/1228393803276541953?s=20
Manchester City have quickly issued a statement, stating they are “disappointed but not surprised” by the “prejudicial” decision from UEFA.
It has also been reported that City could also face a Premier League points deduction because the league’s FFP rules are similar.
City have been drawn to face Real Madrid in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League.
This is massive news. It seems like City knew that they could face the charge, but probably they didn’t anticipate the severity of the ban.
The club is adamant that they will fight the decision and that an independent judiciary will clear them.
However, as it stands, City are out of the Champions League for two seasons, and it raises massive doubt on the futures of Pep and other star players.
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