The Athletic in the UK Has reported that Manchester City will avoid a ban from European competition – a move that was on the cards and which City Football Group (CFG) officials, including FFA CEO candidate James Johnson, have been working hard to avoid.
Manchester City's breach of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations in Europe were revealed in German magazine Der Spiegel last year. Der Spiegel wrote that City had lied about the true source of sponsorships worth millions of pounds and hidden costs which should have been part of the club's FFP calculation, including consultancy fees of £30 million paid to City's former manager, Roberto Mancini, through CFG's team in Abu Dhabi.
City also allegedly received around £51 million in sponsorship money from the Abu Dhabi United Group, a holding company, but reported that it came from Etihad Airways.
Manchester City has been sanctioned for FFP breaches previously when they were fined £49 million in 2014 which is why many commentators expected the club to be barred from European competition this time.
However, The Athletic reports that fighting the deep pockets of CFG in the courts will only lead to years of expensive arguments which would be “hard to justify when it is clear City are not the only side looking for FFP loopholes” – presumably referring, amongst others, to the likes of Qatar owned PSG in Ligue 1
CFG has not commented on the allegations published in Der Spiegel over several issues, noting that they are “… out-of-context materials purported to have been hacked or stolen from City Football Group and City personnel and associated people.”
In the meantime, Manchester City announced £535.2 million (AUD$1 billion) in revenue in 2018-19, it's 11th successive year of revenue growth.