MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Manchester City will build a “constructive relationship” with UEFA after fighting in court with the guiding framework of European football over monetary fair play regulations, President Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Monday.
UEFA banned City from participating in the European festival for two seasons in February for violating its FFP rules, but the club controlled to revoke the sanction on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month.
As City enters the UEFA-led Champions League for the 10th consecutive season, Al Mubarak needs the riots to persist as the team continues its attempts to win Europe’s most important interclub name for the first time.
“Life is too short to hold a grudge,” he said in his annual end-of-season internal interview posted on the city’s website. “It’s a vital festival. It’s one of the most prestigious festivals in the game world and it’s a festival that we have to win and it’s a festival that we have to respect to win.”
“And it was a challenge. It’s us, the end of the story for me. I’m focusing on one thing: how can I help this club participate and win this competition, and how to maintain a constructive relationship with UEFA. I think that’s the only way to do it.”
Al Mubarak did not go into details on how this would be possible. UEFA’s official contact with the clubs is through the influential Association of European Clubs, and City is one of 250 members.
The City never had a seat in the ECA JUNTA and lost to Liverpool, whose then CEO, Peter Moore, won a spot last September. The seat is expected to become vacant again after Liverpool announced Moore’s departure last month.
City’s last attempt to win the Champions League ended in a wonderful 3–1 loss to Lyon in the quarter-finals in Lisbon, leaving Pep Guardiola’s team with a trophy this season: the English League Cup. City ceded the Premier League to Liverpool, completing 18 issues at the scene at the time.
“When I look back, are the effects satisfactory? The answer, of course, is not because we are looking to end the season with as much luck in as many competitions as possible,” Al Mubarak said.
“Secondly, it’s not what we’re for (in the Premier League), but it’ll make us even more hungry. In the Champions League, again, our purpose is to win this competition, so I think, overall, the joy of this season. leaves us some sadness but also many positive aspects to build on.”
City the team through the hiring of defender Nathan Ake of Bournemouth and the extreme Ferran Torres of Valencia. Al Mubarak said there would be other additions.
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