Manchester City on Wednesday, lost their appeal against UEFA’s decision, to investigate them for alleged breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
City appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but it has now been thrown out.
This means the Premier League champions will still face action from UEFA for alleged breach of FFP, although expulsion from next season’s Champions League is unlikely.
City are likely to get a financial penalty.
“An appeal against the decision of a federation, association or sports-related body may be filed with CAS, if the appellant has exhausted the legal remedies available to it prior to the appeal, in accordance with the statutes or regulations of that body.
“In the present case, the decision rendered by the CFCB IC to refer a case to the CFCB AC is not final and can therefore not be appealed to CAS directly, because the AC is competent to take any of the decisions listed in Article 27 CFCB Procedural Rules, that are described as being final,” a statement released by CAS read.