Due to Griona and Manchester City both qualifying for next years Champions League the City Football Group may have to sell their stake in the club as UEFA states, Sad News as Manchester City will not Participate in the upcoming Champions League game next season ๐ฑ๐ญ
According to sources who spoke to ESPN, Girona will have to wait for UEFA permission before they can participate in the Champions League for the next season. This is because Girona’s partner club, Manchester City, has also secured a spot in the 2024-25 championship.
After a 4-2 victory against Barcelona on Saturday, Girona moved into second place in LaLiga and ensured that they would finish in the top four this season. This is the first time in the club’s 94-year existence that Girona has qualified for the Champions League.
Due to the fact that Girona is one of the thirteen teams that make up the City Football Group (CFG), the fact that they qualified alongside City, a team that plays in the Premier League, has brought up the possibility of a conflict with the multi-club ownership restriction that is included in Article 5 of the UEFA club competitions regulations.
Marcelo Claure, a Bolivian-American billionaire who is also the president of Club Bolivar, another CFG team, owns 35% of Girona. CFG owns 47% of Girona because he is the owner of it. Pep Guardiola’s brother, Pere Guardiola, is the chairman of Girona. Pep Guardiola is the manager of City.
In the event that two teams belonging to the same ownership group are able to qualify for the same UEFA competition, the UEFA competition regulations provide that the team that achieves the greatest finish in its domestic championship will be awarded the placement. In the event that both teams finish in the same place, the qualification would be granted to the team that comes in with the highest club coefficient, which in this scenario would be City.
The English team will take the CFG spot in the Champions League ahead of Girona as a result of the factors that have been outlined above. This is due to the fact that City, the winners of the Champions League in 2023, only needs two points to secure a runners-up spot in the Premier League. City will win the title for the fourth consecutive season if they win all three of their remaining fixtures.
The Spanish club will be required to present its position and organizational independence from Manchester City at a UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) this summer in order to be cleared to play in the Champions League. However, sources have stated that it is highly unlikely that Girona will be demoted to the Europa League in order to avoid a matchup with City.
The Red Bull Group has granted permission for RB Leipzig and FC Salzburg to compete in the Champions League jointly in previous seasons. Additionally, in July of last year, the European Union Football Association (UEFA) allowed the entrance of various teams into its championships despite concerns regarding the possibility of shared ownership difficulties.
Following a hearing before the CFCB, it was decided that Aston Villa and Vitoria, Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise, and AC Milan and Toulouse were all permitted to take part in UEFA tournaments.
Both Manchester United and Nice will be subject to a hearing before the CFCB in the event that they are able to qualify for European play. Both of these teams are fully or largely controlled by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group.
Although United are now outside of the European berths in the Premier League, they still have the opportunity to qualify for Europe through the league or by defeating Manchester City in the FA Cup Final on May 25. Nice, on the other hand, are currently in fifth place in Ligue 1 and also hold a spot in the Europa League.
