Girona FC has shocked fans all over the world as the club finds themselves in second position ahead of FC Barcelona. Girona and Real Madrid both have 45 points from 18 wins. However, Real Madrid stands atop with a better goal differential of +28.
On the other hand, Manchester City is fourth behind Liverpool. Arsenal, and Aston Villa. As per the rules, the Top Four teams from the English and Spanish League advance to the UEFA Champions League 2024-25.
Even if Man City doesn’t place in the Top Four, They have a chance to qualify for the revered tournament. The champions of 2024-24 UCL advance directly.
But What is the problem? The City Football Group is the problem.
City Football Group owns a 100% stake in Manchester City and a 47% stake in Girona FC. In Girona’s case, albeit it being 47%, CFG is the majority stockholder.
Now, The UEFA adopted the ‘Integrity of UEFA Club Competitions: Independence of Clubs’ rule was adopted in 1998. This specifies that no two or more clubs competing in a UEFA club competition may be directly or indirectly controlled or managed by the same business or person.
Also Read: Recalling what Lionel Messi said when Barcelona won the 2019 La Liga
The Manchester City – Girona FC Dilemma: Has something of this happened before?
Yes, This has happened before. Nevertheless with a twist. UEFA’s club finance investigators discovered an ‘unusually high level of player loans/transfers’ between the Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig in 2017.
Red Bull, an Austrian beverage business, owned both teams until this probe. The clubs decided to make some changes to allow both teams in the UEFA competitions.
Salzburg elected to fire employees who were allegedly tied to Red Bull. The collaboration agreement with Leipzig was terminated, with the sponsorship reduced.
After making all of these modifications, UEFA agreed that there was ‘insufficient proof’ that the clubs shared ownership and authorized them both to compete in Europe.
The Clubs were placed in the same group at one point.
