LaLiga President Javier Tebas has continued to be critical of Manchester City and Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) after the Premier League giants saw their European ban overturned recently. Their initial fine of 30 million euros was also brought down to 10 million euros.
European governing body UEFA had banned City in February for breaching their Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations between 2012 to 2016. The city couldn’t have taken part in the Champions League or the Europa League for two years if CAS hadn’t ruled in their favor.
“We all know what City do,” Tebas told ESPN. “When they were punished (by UEFA originally), there was no surprise among the majority of us involved in European football.
“I don’t want to say (people were) happy, but at last, there was a sense of justice against these big state-owned clubs, the other being Paris Saint-Germain (PSG),” he added.
Fellow Premier League managers, namely Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham Hotspur’s Jose Mourinho, had also hit out at the CAS ruling earlier. While Klopp had called it a bad day for football, Mourinho referred to it as a disgrace.
“In contrast, when the CAS reversed the decision, there were protests — from Klopp, Mourinho — because we all know they’re trying to find a way around the FFP rules. As Klopp said, it was a bad day for football,” Tebas said.
“City will be in the Champions League next season because the CAS did things badly, not because City has done things properly.”
Following the ruling, City manager Pep Guardiola had demanded an apology and stated that they were damaged by the accusations. Also, he had given examples of former Premier League managers Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, saying clubs need to spend money in order to remain at top of the pile.
“City, in the last five years, along with PSG, are the club that has spent the most. The city hasn’t signed with their own resources, like Manchester United do, who bring in money through television or sponsors. They sign with petrodollars, with money obtained through oil by the (owners in the) United Arab Emirates,” Tebas said
“The state-owned clubs in Europe do what they want. Fictitious sponsors, naming rights (for stadiums) in the case of Man City. The Etihad Stadium is not worth (what is paid for it) and that creates a very dangerous economic situation for us,” he added.
