Manchester City have offered Uefa an olive branch after the clash over their overturned European ban.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in his annual address to City fans, insisted there are “no grudges” after the conclusion of the damaging prosecution of the club for alleged financial fair play (FFP) breaches.
The Blues took the governing body to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after being hit with a two-year suspension and 30million euros fine.
The club was cleared of wrongdoing but 10million euros of the fine was allowed to stand, with City being admonished for failing to fully cooperate with Uefa’s original investigation.
That was a resounding victory for the Blues, and means they will be back in the Champions League next season.
It left their relationship with Uefa in serious doubt, but there have already been signs of the two parties burying the hatchet.
City called the Football Leaks allegations - on which Uefa based their prosecution - a “clear and organised” attempt to damage their reputation, and sources hinted at the belief elements within the organisation were pushing the pursuit of the Blues.
But earlier this year City began to offer a way forward in the relationship, with chief executive Ferran Soriano reserving his criticism of the process to the semi-independent Club Financial Control Body, stressing that City have positive links with Uefa as a whole.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin distanced himself from the investigation last year, hinting the FFP rules need reform, and saying of City’s investigation: “We like them, they are our club, but this process is a separate thing, and I don’t interfere”.
That left the door open for a reconciliation, and after the CAS verdict was announced last month, Khaldoon telephoned Ceferin to begin the healing process in earnest.
Now, in his annual address to City fans, Khaldoon has poured more oil on troubled waters, saying the club is only looking to the future and hoping to prosper in the Champions League.
“Life is too short to carry grudges,” he said. “It is an important competition. It is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world of sports.
“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 focussed 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.”
City fans have a hate-hate relationship with Uefa, booing the anthem at home and away games in the Champions League, partly because of their wrangles over FFP, but also because of the paltry fine handed to Porto fans who racially abused Mario Balotelli, the way they disregarded innocent City fans’ plight after closing CSKA Moscow’s stadium due to the Russian club’s racist fans, and other slights.
