Manchester City have failed in their attempts to stop UEFA's case against the club for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
Liverpool 's Premier League rivals had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to get the case thrown out.
It was alleged that City broke FFP regulations by overstating the amount of money coming into the club from sponsors based in Abu Dhabi - evidence first uncovered in a series of leaks published by German newspaper Der Spiegel.
Former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry was one of eight members on UEFA's independent club financial control body. They had previously determined City had a case to answer to, referring the club to the governing body's adjudicatory chamber to give a ruling and decide on any sanction.
City had insisted there was no case to answer as they sought an annulment of the UEFA's Investigatory Chamber decision via CAS.
UEFA's Adjudicatory Chamber can now launch their full investigation into the club’s financial dealings.
Man City risk being banned from the Champions League if they’re found guilty of breaking rules around FFP.
The hearing was considered by a three-man CAS panel who ruled in favour of UEFA.
A statement from CAS said: "The CAS Panel determined that MCFC’s appeal was inadmissible, considering that “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.” (Article R47 of the CAS Rules).
"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."
The latest decision means UEFA's investigation will now reach a conclusion with possible sanctions due.
