European football’s governing body UEFA have made known that the reigning Premier League champions Manchester City are being investigated for allegedly violating Financial Fair Play regulations. Pep Guardiola’s table-toppers in the English top flight are under investigation for potential breaches of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, the governing body of European football has announced. UEFA released a statement confirming the Premier League champions were being looked at, and noted the alleged violations have been made known by media outlets.
“The Investigatory Chamber of the independent UEFA Club Financial Control Body has today opened a formal investigation into Manchester City FC for potential breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations,” the UEFA statement reads. “The investigation will focus on several alleged violations of FFP that were recently made public in various media outlets. UEFA will make no further comments on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.”
German newspaper Der Spiegel has published a series of claims, based on leaked documents, that Premier League champions City have violated FFP rules. And UEFA previously found City had breached FFP rules in 2014, with the club reaching an agreement with the governing body at the time which saw the Etihad Stadium side pay a £49 million fine – £32 million of which was suspended – while their Champions League squad was reduced for the 2014-15 season.
The Football Association is also looking into claims City made a banned £200,000 payment to talented Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho’s agent when the England winger was 14 years old and on the books of City. That allegation was also made in documents published by Der Spiegel last month. UEFA says it will make no further comment while the investigation is ongoing.
Already, world football governing body, FIFA, slammed City’s Premier League rival, Chelsea, with a transfer ban which would prevent Maurizio Sarri’s side from signing new players in the next two transfer windows. The ban was thrown down on the Stamford Bridge club after it breached rules relating to the registration of players under 18, the football governing body confirmed. The Blues were also slapped with a CHF 600,000 fine for their violation.
According to an official statement released on Friday, the club breached article 19 in the case of 29 under-18 players and will therefore be unable to sign new players at English and international level for two transfer windows. The statement reads: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the English club Chelsea FC and The Football Association for breaches relating to the international transfer and registration of players under the age of 18.”