Gab Marcotti explains how Manchester City may not qualify for the Champions League next season even if they finish in the top four. (0:52)
UEFA has presented investors from Abu Dhabi, Manchester City and Girona with divestment terms that will allow them to participate in the Champions League next season while respecting the rules of integrity for groups that share ownership.
Girona have been on a run to finish in the top four of the Spanish league, with three key players loaned out or sold thanks to Manchester City’s influence, with the addition of Brazilian star Savio.
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Girona, also owned by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s brother, will take part in Europe’s elite festival for the first time. City won the 2023 Champions League and will finish in the top two of the English Premier League.
But the groups have put pressure on UEFA’s regulations on ownership of multiple clubs that oppose collusion in matches.
Failure to comply with UEFA regulations with a proposal until June 3 will cause one of the two teams, probably Girona, to be relegated to the Europa League, second division. The team that finishes best in its national championship will have priority.
According to a UEFA document seen on Tuesday by The Associated Press, two functions are open to the City Football Group, the operation created in Abu Dhabi with stakes in thirteen clubs around the world, totaling 100 percent of Man City and 47% of Girona. .
CFG can simply solve the challenge by promoting shares to an independent third party that would reduce a stake to less than 30%, or by moving all of a club’s shares to a blind deal with oversight through a UEFA-appointed panel.
The administrator could be selected through the CFG according to a UEFA-approved plan that was implemented this season as part of a compliance agreement between AC Milan, Toulouse and its U. S. investor Red Bird Capital.
The possibility of UEFA and CFG owning multiple clubs has been in the making since Girona’s immediate arrival at the top of the league in September.
UEFA has refused to comment on the entire season as it waits for Girona to prove their qualification for the Champions League this month. UEFA has also not commented on any conceivable notable issues related to Jim Ratcliffe’s involvement and influence at Manchester United and Nice: either could qualify for next season’s Europa League.
On Tuesday, UEFA’s Club Finance Supervisory Committee wrote to football stakeholders to explain updates to its multi-club regulations for European club competitions that were first drafted in the 1998-99 season.
Man City and Girona have drawn attention to the fact that CFG has a “decisive influence” on Array, as the Abu Dhabi deal owns at least 30% of the shares in and due to the clubs’ transfer deals this season.
Girona gave the impression of meeting the UEFA panel’s criteria for clubs that “transferred, permanently or temporarily, 3 or more players to the other club, directly or indirectly through similar matches, during the season”.
Girona have two players from CFG clubs in their squad: right-back Yan Couto, on loan from Manchester City, and winger Sávio, on loan from French side Troyes.
Sávio is the revelation of the season in Spain. His dribbling and speed eliminate left-wing chaos in opposing defences.
The 20-year-old has scored 10 goals and is one of the league’s leading passers with nine assists on goal. Savio’s permanent move to Manchester City at the end of the season, announced in February, is not expected to be affected by any UEFA decision.
Couto stood out by joining the attack from the right back, dishing out 8 assists.
After completing a loan spell at Girona, Venezuelan midfielder Yangel Herrera sold through City to his sister club last July.
Man City bought it in 2008 through Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
CFG was established five years later, with Man City, now first-time Premier League champions, acting as the flagship club of a global portfolio that soon included groups across continents.
New York City FC first joined the organization in 2013, then Melbourne City in the Australian A-League, Girona in Spain, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay and Mumbai City in India joined the organization. organization, which had a “collaboration agreement” with the Venezuelan team Atlético Venezuela.
CFG bought Girona in 2017, just weeks after ascending for the first time to the Spanish flagship flight. Pere Guardiola has acquired a stake that now stands at 16%.
In recent years, CFG has acquired stakes in European clubs from Lommel in Belgium, Palermo in Italy and Troyes.
The CFG club is one of the most extensive multi-club teams in a developing global trend that, according to UEFA itself, poses a danger to the football industry.
Critics say this may allow for collusion in games and cause the market and top-tier clubs to spread and hide their prices to comply with monetary supervision rules.