UEFA’s investigation into Manchester City concluded that two £15million payments from a broker was funding from the club’s owners disguised as sponsorship revenue.
The report by the adjudicatory committee of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) is effectively the written reasons behind the decision announced in February 2020 to suspend City from European competition for two years.
The report was never published because the club appealed against the decision and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later overturned the CFCB verdict, but it has been obtained by the makers of a YouTube film released on Thursday, and has also been seen by The Times.
UEFA did not comment on the report when contacted by the PA news agency on Friday.
The report said City’s lawyers had told a UEFA disciplinary hearing that two £15m sponsorship payments from telecommunications firm Etisalat in 2012 and 2013 were made by a man called Jaber Mohammed, who was described as a broker, and that Etisalat repaid the money to City’s owners in 2015.
The Times reports that the adjudicatory committee of the CFCB concluded: “Arrangements were made under which payments were made or caused to be made by ADUG (Abu Dhabi United Group, a private equity fund controlled by City owner Sheikh Mansour) but attributed to the sponsorship obligations of Etisalat so as to disguise the true purpose of equity funding, and those arrangements were carried into effect by the payments made by Jaber Mohamed totalling £30million.
“The management of the club was well aware that the payments totalling £30million made by Jaber Mohamed were made as equity funding, not as payments for the sponsor on account of genuine sponsorship liabilities.”
CAS overturned the two-year suspension in July 2020, and in its judgement it said UEFA should not have dealt with the charges related to Etisalat because they had passed the five-year time limit. It is not known whether the Etisalat payments form part of the Premier League’s ongoing case against City, where they face 115 charges over alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules and a failure to co-operate with the investigation, but, if they do, they would not be time-barred.
In the same judgement, the CAS panel also stated it was “not comfortably satisfied” that City had disguised equity funding from Sheikh Mansour or ADUG as sponsorship contributions from the Etihad airline.
It said in relation to the Etihad sponsorship: “There is not sufficient evidence on file to establish that arrangements were actually made between MCFC and HHSM (Sheikh Mansour) and/or ADUG, or between HHSM and/or ADUG and Etihad, or that HHSM and/or ADUG funded part of Etihad’s sponsorship obligations directly.
“In the absence of a link being proven…the majority of the panel finds that UEFA’s theory on disguised equity funding remains unsubstantiated.”
City have not commented on the latest report, but it is understood they believe questions should be asked about the origins of the funding for the new YouTube film, and the motivations of those who provided that funding.
Little is known about the company behind it, Sunrise Media, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands on June 9.
KC, JC through to Manning Cup semis as champs Mona booted
A new ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champion will be crowned after Kingston College (KC) registered a decisive 2-0 victory over reigning titleholders Mona High in their Group A quarterfinal showdown at Stadium East on Friday.
Kvist Paul (8th) and Demario Dailey (70th) did the damage for Kingston College in a win that not only ended Mona's campaign but also propelled the North Street-based team into the semifinals alongside Jamaica College (JC), who trounced Tivoli High 4-0 in a simultaneous fixture at the Ashenheim Stadium.
By virtue of the results, Jamaica College topped the group on seven points, one point ahead of Kingston College (six points), while Tivoli High (three points) and Mona High (one point) will now turn their focus to the Walker Cup knockout competition for redemption.
Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, lauded his team's composure and execution.
"It was a fantastic performance. We knew Mona would come out strong, but the boys stuck to the game plan and delivered when it mattered. Now, we look ahead to the semifinals, but as always, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. The aim is to keep the boys grounded and focused, and we will see what happens when that time comes,” Reynolds said.
With a lot at stake for Mona in particular heading into the contest, it was expected to be a close affair, but the manner in which Kingston College started ensured otherwise.
In fact, Mona had very little say in the contest as Kingston College’s show of intent resulted in an early strike inside 10 minutes. Damaine Smith delivered a perfectly placed corner kick, which Paul rose to meet and headed past Mona's goalkeeper, Riquelme Edwards.
Mona High, desperate to respond, almost found themselves further behind in the 15th minute when Dailey fired wide from a promising position.
As Mona struggled to contain Kingston College’s tactical discipline and attacking enterprise, Deshawn Byfield almost added his name to the scoresheet but had his effort dramatically cleared off the line by Dante Peralto.
Despite KC’s dominance, Mona’s goalkeeper Edwards produced a string of superb saves to keep his team in contention.
Just before halftime, he acrobatically parried a powerful shot from Kajay Fletcher, diving full stretch to his right, and Byfield failed to capitalize on the rebound.
Seconds later, Edwards was called upon again to deny a stinging shot from Smith.
Matrim Martin then unleashed a venomous right-footer, but Edwards once more stood tall, ensuring the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.
The purples continued to assert their authority on the resumption as Dailey threatened in the 68th with a firm shot from close range that went straight at Edwards.
However, the Kingston College striker, sporting the number nine jersey, made amends two minutes later. Sent on his way by a brisk through pass, Dailey powered a low drive past a flat-footed Edwards to double Kingston College’s lead and effectively end Mona’s hopes of a comeback.
Clarke hails solid Scotland as Croatia win boosts Nations League survival hopes
Steve Clarke credited Scotland's defensive resilience after they boosted their hopes of remaining in the top tier of the Nations League by beating Croatia 1-0 at Hampden Park.
John McGinn came off the bench to score the all-important goal as Scotland took advantage of Petar Sucic's sending-off to claim their first win of the 2024-25 Nations League campaign.
The result – coupled with Poland's crushing 5-1 defeat in Portugal – means Scotland will stave off automatic relegation to League B if they win in Warsaw on Monday.
While Clarke felt Scotland could have done more with the ball, he was impressed both with their off-the-ball work and with the impact of super sub McGinn.
"My first thoughts when I came off the pitch were that we could play better," Clarke said.
"We could be more clinical when we get to the final third of the pitch. The sending off changed the game, but we were due a little break.
"This is a group of players that want to be successful, want to do well for their country.
"That's another clean sheet, two in a row. If you don't concede goals, you always have a chance to win the game.
"It was nice to get John on the pitch and I thought his finish was really good because it wasn't easy. It was nice to be able to look at the bench behind and know we had people who could come on and affect the game. It's nice when we get everybody fit and available."
The victory was Scotland's first in a competitive match since September 2023, when they beat Cyprus 3-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
They had gone 10 games without a competitive victory since then, drawing four and losing six, including a return of just one point from three outings at Euro 2024.
Denmark 1-2 Spain: Oyarzabal and Perez on target as Roja secure top spot
Spain secured top spot in Group A4 of the Nations League with one match to spare after defeating Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Ayoze Perez were on the scoresheet as the unbeaten Roja made it four wins and a draw to pull six points clear of the second-placed Danes.
Luis de la Fuente's side capitalised on a poor pass from Denmark centre-back Jannik Vestergaard to open the scoring as Oyarzabal latched on to a ball from Perez and finished past Kasper Schmeichel in the 15th minute.
Villarreal forward Perez then doubled the visitors' lead in the 58th minute after Dani Olmo turned provider with a defence-splitting pass.
The hosts reduced the deficit with six minutes of regulation time left, as Fabian Ruiz's back pass to goalkeeper David Raya was intercepted by Gustav Isaksen, who had been denied by the woodwork moments earlier, and he slotted into an open goal to set up a tense ending.
But the Spaniards held on for the win and will now face Switzerland in their final group game on Monday, before taking part in the quarter-finals, scheduled for March.
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