PSG, Man City punished for breaking new financial rules
Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain have been given fines of up to 60 million euros ($82.23 million) and had their squad sizes capped for next season's Champions League after breaching new rules to stabilise soccer club finances.
As part of their settlement, Premier League champions City, owned by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour, and Qatari-owned PSG have also agreed to significantly limit transfer spending for the next two seasons.
In a statement, City made clear that they had reluctantly agreed a deal with UEFA. Had they fought on, they would have risked a ban from next season's Champions League.
"In normal circumstances, the club would wish to pursue its case and present its position through every avenue of recourse," City said in a statement.
"However, our decision to do so must be balanced against the practical realities for our fans, for our partners and in the interests of the commercial operations of the club," it added.
PSG and City will each get 40 million euros of the fine back should they stick to the terms of their settlement with UEFA in coming seasons.
As part of the settlement, they are not allowed to increase their wage bills over the next two years.
UEFA has handed lesser punishments to seven other clubs including Galatasaray of Turkey and Russia's Zenit St Petersburg.
Two other Turkish teams -- Bursaspor and Trabzonspor -- are among nine teams punished, along with Russian teams Rubin Kazan and Anzhi Makhachkala. The other team to fall foul of FFP is Levski Sofia of Bulgaria.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/1 ... PH20140516
