PSG outscores UEFA with legal win in financial monitoring case

Paris Saint-Germain won an initial legal battle with UEFA on Tuesday over monitoring of its spending on player transfers and ws, and sponsorship deals linked to club’s Qatari owner. Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld PSG’s appeal against an attempt by UEFA investigators to reopen a previously closed investigation.

judgment in favor of PSG is separate from ar UEFA investigation of its finances in 2017-18 season when French champions, backed by Qatari sovereign wealth, signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

appeal judgment from CAS related to UEFA’s club finance monitoring panel wanting to review its own decision that declared PSG’s accounts through June 2017 compliant with “Financial Fair Play” rules.

court said UEFA’s panel of independent investigators and judges missed deadline to challenge ir own previous decision. “ challenged decision was untimely and must be annulled,” CAS said in a statement.

PSG’s victory was expected after Turkish club Galatasaray won a similar CAS ruling against UEFA last month.

In Galatasaray case, UEFA said CAS decision “does t put in doubt objectives of UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play system.”

PSG has long been a major target of UEFA’s FFP project since launch in 2011. It requires clubs to approach break-even business on soccer, such as on player transfers and ws, and also assesses fair market value of sponsorship deals.FFP

WATCH: Game Banayega Name

“ club emphasizes it has always respected rules and always striven to reply calmly and transparently to repeated requests from UEFA and its club finance panel,” PSG said in a statement Tuesday.

Critics say FFP protects storied clubs from being challenged by ambitious rivals with wealthy owners, though UEFA insists it aims to control club debts and over-inflation of soccer market.

Since being bought by its Qatari owners in 2011, PSG has been suspected of using overvalued sponsor deals from gas-rich emirate to balance its accounts and comply with UEFA rules.

club forfeited 20 million euros ($22.8 million) of Champions League prize money in a 2014 settlement that avoided a more high-stakes legal fight. Manchester City, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, got same deal from UEFA.

In April 2017, UEFA released PSG and Man City from ir settlement agreements for complying with three years of stricter monitoring.

WATCH: Sourav Ganguly signs up as Delhi Capitals advisor; You have to hear his philosophy on helping out youngsters

PSG n spent heavily in that offseason, breaking soccer’s transfer record to buy Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros (about $250 million). A loan deal was agreed with Monaco for Mbappe that became a 180 million euro ($205 million) purchase last year.

UEFA opened an investigation soon after loan for Mbappe was completed in August 2017. That probe is ongoing.