Uefa investigation was greeted with scorn and denial by the club, but has culminated in a guilty verdict
Throughout the startling “leaks” of Manchester City’s internal emails in the German magazine Der Spiegel, and the resulting investigation by Uefa which led ultimately to Friday’s guilty finding and two-season
Champions League ban and €30m (£25m) fine, City’s response has been uniform: scorn, outrage, denial.
The emails, splashed by Spiegel with evident relish across a series of exposés, punched into City’s expertly and expensively created modern image in three broad areas relating to Uefa’s financial fair play rules, which were introduced in 2011 to deter clubs from overspending.