City were handed the suspension by UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in February for "serious breaches" of club licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations.
The Premier League club vehemently denied any wrongdoing and appealed the decision at CAS last month, after previously describing the UEFA disciplinary process as "prejudicial".
After hearing evidence over the course of three days in June, CAS have now overturned the suspension - meaning City are free to compete in the Champions League next season, having secured second place in the Premier League with a 5-0 win over Brighton Hove & Albion on Saturday.
Speaking after the match, City manager Pep Guardiola said he was confident the ban would be overturned and insisted his side deserved to play in European football's elite competition.
Full CAS Statement
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in the arbitration procedure between Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) and the Union of European Football Association (UEFA).
Following the hearing, the CAS panel deliberated and concluded that the decision issued on 14 February 2020 by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB should be set aside and replaced by the following:
a) MCFC has contravened Article 56 of the Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations.
b) MCFC shall pay a fine of EUR 10,000,000 to UEFA, within 30 days as from the date of issuance of the arbitral award.
The CAS award emphasised that most of the alleged breaches reported by the Adjudicatory Chamber of CFCB were either not established or time-barred. As the charges with respect to any dishonest concealment of equity funding were clearly more significant violations than obstructing the CFCB's investigations, it was not appropriate to impose a ban on participating in UEFA's club competitions for MCFC's failure to cooperate with the CFCB's investigations alone.
However, considering i) the financial resources of MCFC; ii) the importance of the cooperation of clubs in investigations conducted by the CFCB, because of its limited investigative means; and iii) MCFC's disregard of such principle and its obstruction of the investigations, the CAS panel found that a significant fine should be imposed on MCFC and considered it appropriate to reduce UEFA's initial fine by 2/3, i.e. to the amount of EUR 10,000,000."
UEFA reply
"Shortly after the decision was made public, the European footballing governing body issued a brief statement adding that they would be making no further comments on the matter.
UEFA takes note of the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce the sanction imposed on Manchester City FC by UEFA's independent Club Financial Control Body for alleged breaches of the UEFA Club licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations.
UEFA notes that the CAS panel found that there was insufficient conclusive evidence to uphold all of the CFCB's conclusions in this specific case and that many of the alleged breaches were time-barred due to the 5-year time period foreseen in the UEFA regulations.
Over the last few years, Financial Fair Play has played a significant role in protecting clubs and helping them become financially sustainable and UEFA and ECA remain committed to its principles.
UEFA will be making no further comments on the matter."
#CITYZENS
Saif
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