Court expects July verdict in Man City's European ban case

A verdict in Manchester City’s appeal against a two-year UEFA ban from European competitions is expected within five weeks. The Court of Arbitration for Sport set the target Wednesday of “during the first half of July” to publish the decision of its three-judge panel. The panel finished hearing three days of evidence about allegations City broke UEFA’s club finance monitoring rules and obstructed the investigation. The CAS hearing was held by video link between Switzerland and England at an undisclosed location in Lausanne, with expert witnesses “in various countries,” the court said. Confidentiality was requested by UEFA and City, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s royal family. “At the end of the hearing, both parties expressed their satisfaction with respect to the conduct of the procedure,” CAS said in a statement. The verdict will not affect City playing in this season’s Champions League. It is due before City should resume play in August at home to Real Madrid in the round of 16. The English champion won 2-1 in Spain and the second leg was postponed in March due to the spreading coronavirus pandemic.