Karl-Heinz Rummenigge unhappy with UEFA’s decision to lift Manchester City’s ban

UEFA’s decision to lift Manchester City’s two season ban in European competition was justifiably met with a great deal of criticism within the footballing world. The decision was announced two weeks ago CAS International Sports Court as City had provided a strong enough case in their favor that they did not breach financial fair play regulations to the extent that they were accused of.

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was particularly critical of UEFA’s decision, per a new report by kicker, and he also called for more reform in UEFA’s FFP regulations. While the final decision to lift the ban came from the CAS International Sports Court, Rummenigge feels that the decision was a result of UEFA’s own poor effort to enforce their own guidelines and regulations: “I think that the final CAS ruling came about because UFA simply did not do a good job, which you hear from various sources. It probably was not well prepared.”

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From the CAS’s standpoint, there wasn’t enough concrete evidence to prove that Manchester City knowingly violated FFP laws and they seemed to suggest the case against them was too inadequate. Of course, Rummenigge has also been an advocate for FFP reformation long before City was under investigation, and he feels that it can be an effective tool if it’s solved properly. It’s guiding principle, he said, was that “you are not allowed to spend more money than you make. That has to come to the fore much more prominently in the future. But for that to happen, we have to modify it. Because football has changed dramatically in the past ten years.”

Despite all of the controversy surrounding City and FFP, Rummenigge said he’s happy that Pep Gaurdiola will not be shut out of the Champions League. He said, “Congratulations to my colleagues at Manchester City. I am happy for my friend Pep Guardiola. I know what it means to him personally to participate in the Champions League.”

Photo by A. Hassenstein/FC Bayern via Getty Images