Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak is confident UEFA’s investigation will find the club has not broken any financial rules. The Premier League champions face a possible season-long Champions League ban if UEFA find them guilty of breaking Financial Fair Play regulations.
City are being investigated by UEFA’s independent financial control board after being alleged to have inflated the value of their commercial deals with Abu Dhabi-based companies and hidden payments to players and staff. The club were fined £49million – £32m of which was suspended – by UEFA for breaching FFP rules in 2014.
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“Am I uncomfortable? No. I respect regulatory bodies doing their job and any regulatory process that asks questions,” Al Mubarak said in an interview with City TV. “I believe, quite comfortably, if the process is going to be judged on facts then unquestionably we will prevail. If it’s not about facts and it’s about other things, then it is a different conversation.
“But I strongly hope that these regulatory bodies will ultimately make the decision based on facts.” Al Mubarak added: “The reality is we have dealt with this before, with UEFA. This is not the first time we have dealt with it. “We are going through the appropriate steps and we’re confident in our position, very comfortable in our position. I’m not concerned about that because facts will prevail.”
