Klopp, Mourinho knock CAS Over Man City Decision

Tottenham manager, Jose Mourinho described the ruling a disgrace.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said the decision by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to lift the two-year UEFA ban on Manchester City was “not a good day for football”.

Manchester City were successful Monday in upturning the ban over breaking Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

“I don’t think it was a good day for football yesterday (Monday), to be honest,” Klopp told a virtual news conference on Tuesday.

“FFP is a good idea. It is there for protecting teams and the competition, so that nobody overspends and have to make sure the money they want to spend is based on the right sources.”

After winning the appeal, Manchester City will now be allowed to compete in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

CAS ruled that Manchester City did not breach FFP rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship.

“It’s not up to me to judge this and I don’t, but I think this FFP framework we should stick to (it).

“I hope FFP stays just because it gives kind of borders that you can go to, but not over it, and that’s good for football,” Klopp said.

“If you start doing that, nobody has to care anymore and the richest people or countries can do what they want.

“It will make the competition really difficult and I think that will lead automatically to a kind of world super league with like 10 clubs and it will depend on who owns the clubs and not the names of the clubs. It makes sense to have these rules.”

Klopp did say, however, that Manchester City’s place in the UEFA Champions League next season might at least benefit Liverpool as they try to retain their English Premier League (EPL) title.

“They won’t have 10 or 12 games less now —- no other team would have had a chance in the (Premier) league,” he said.

The decision of the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to overturn Manchester City’s two-year UEFA ban from European football while fining them 10 million euros (9.09 million pounds) is disgraceful.

Mourinho

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho also attacked the CAS as a disgrace.

UEFA ruled in February that Manchester City had committed serious breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with its investigation.

It then handed the English Premier League (EPL) side a ban and a fine of 30 million euros.

However, the CAS on Monday said Manchester City did not violate FFP rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship.

But it imposed a reduced fine for failing to cooperate with European football’s governing body.

“In any case it’s a disgraceful decision because if Manchester City are not guilty then they should not be punished with the fine,” Mourinho told reporters in a virtual news conference ahead of Wednesday’s clash against 13th-placed Newcastle United.

“If you’re not guilty, you shouldn’t have a fine. If they are guilty, the decision is also a disgrace and they should be banned from the competition.

`I don’t know if Manchester City are guilty or not, but either way it’s a disgraceful decision.”

UEFA’s FFP rules face likely changes in the wake of the CAS ruling.

Mourinho said the system needs to be overhauled if it is to continue to serve its purpose which is to aim to stop clubs running big losses through spending on players.

“I think this is going to be the end of Financial Fair Play, because there is no point,” Mourinho said.

“I would like to see it used in a proper way. At this moment we are talking about Manchester City, but in the past other clubs were in a similar situation.

“I think it’s better to open the circus door and let everybody enjoy.”