Manchester City avoid transfer ban… despite admitting they broke rules on signing foreign kids
MANCHESTER City have escaped a Fifa transfer ban - despite admitting breaking rules on signing foreign kids.
City faced the same fate that has seen bans placed on Chelsea and Spanish trio Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in recent years.
Chelsea were given a two-window ban in February and while they have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport did not attempt to register any new players this summer.
Fifa insiders had suggested City were in line for a similar fate if the allegations against them were found proven.
But while Fifa did find the Prem champions were guilty of breaching regulations, they were instead fined £315,000.
The punishment, which will cause raised eyebrows at Stamford Bridge in particular, looks like little more than a slap on the wrist for City.
But the club was said by Fifa to have “accepted its responsibility” for the breaches and was handed the fine.
ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY
In a statement confirming it had received the punishment, including a reprimand from world bosses, City suggested the breaches had been mainly over Under-18s brought to the for trials and who had been played in friendly matches.
City said: “The club accepts responsibility for the breaches which arose as a result of misinterpretation of the regulations in question.
“All of the breaches occurred before December 2016 when guidance on the interpretation of the provisions was issued, since which date Manchester City has been fully compliant.
“The club regards highly and shares Fifa’s determination to ensure the protection of minors in football and has cooperated fully with the investigation which has been transparent and evidenced based at all times.”
City’s choice of words in response to Fifa’s investigation - and punishment - comes in stark contrast to the stance they have taken with Uefa over the allegations of Financial Fair Play breaches which have brought a recommendation of a potential ban from the competition.
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The club remains determined to fight any ban all the way, which could even see a challenge to the legal validity of FFP regulations and have accused Uefa’s investigations unit of having ignored “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.
City are also still being probed by both the FA and Premier League after allegations made following the Football Leaks document dump, including claims they paid £200,000 to the agent of then-14-year-old Jadon Sancho £200,000 to help entice him from Watford in 2014.
All of those allegations have been vehemently refuted by the club, which has railed against “the illegal hacking and out of context publication of City emails”.