No grudges with UEFA after FFP case, City chairman says

Manchester City wants to build a “constructive relationship” with UEFA after battling in court with European football’s governing body over financial fair play regulations, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Monday.

UEFA banned City from European competition for two seasons in February for breaching its FFP rules, but the club successfully overturned the punishment on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month.

With City heading into a 10th straight season in the UEFA-run Champions League, Al Mubarak doesn’t want any ill-feeling to linger as the team continues its attempts to win the biggest title in European club football for the first time.

“Life is too short to carry grudges,” he said in his annual end-of-season in-house interview published on the City website. “It is an important competition. It is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world of sports and it is a competition we want to win and it is a competition we have to respect in order to win.

“And this was a challenge. It’s behind us, end of story as far as I am concerned. I am focused on one thing — how I can help this club compete in this competition and win it, and how to have a constructive relationship with UEFA. I think it’s the only way to go.”

Al Mubarak didn’t go into details about how that would be possible. UEFA's formal contact with top clubs is through the influential European Club Association, and City is one of around 250 members.

City has never had a seat on the ECA board of directors and lost out to Liverpool, whose then-CEO Peter Moore got a place last September. The seat should be vacant again after Liverpool announced Moore's departure last month.

City’s latest bid to win the Champions League ended with a surprise 3-1 loss to Lyon in the quarterfinals in Lisbon, leaving Pep Guardiola’s team with one trophy this season — the English League Cup. City relinquished the Premier League to Liverpool, finishing 18 points back in second place.

“When I look back, are the results satisfying? The answer is of course not as we always look to finish the season with as much success in as many competitions as possible," Al Mubarak said.

“Second is not what we look for (in the Premier League) but it will make us hungrier. In the Champions League, again our objective is to win that competition so I think overall this season’s experience leaves us with some disappointment but also a lot of positives to build on."

City has strengthened the squad by signing defender Nathan Ake from Bournemouth and winger Ferran Torres from Valencia. Al Mubarak said there would be further additions.

Image credits: AP