Premier League giants have ganged up to stop Manchester City’s bid to overturn their two-year Champions League ban.
According to the Daily Mail, the entire current top 10 of the league, with the exception of City and Sheffield United, have submitted a joint application to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which will hear City’s appeal against their punishment from Uefa for breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The appeal, along with the coronavirus crisis, has raised concerns for the complainants that the case will be delayed and that City will be in next season’s Champions League.
The group, which includes the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea have separately written to the same law firm, which has then sent an application backed by all to the arbitration body.
SIGNED: Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp. Picture: Supplied.
It states that should City request that their punishment is "stayed" while their appeal is ongoing, all the clubs strongly object.
City were banned from European competition for two years and fined £25m last month for ‘serious breaches’ of Financial Fair Play.
They deny any wrong-doing and immediately announced their intention to appeal, which they did, but it is understood that City have not yet asked for their punishment to be delayed or stayed.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/ManCity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ManCity pic.twitter.com/gDlzveh3yV
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
The move is a significant development. It provides a clear indication of the dim view that the rest of the top flight’s leading clubs have privately taken over City’s behaviour pushed out.
While City declined to comment, there is a belief at Eastland that certain other rivals have been leading a charge against them.