How could UEFA get it so wrong?

Manchester City’s two-year European ban was overturned on Monday, but it wasn’t because they proved themselves innocent on all counts of financial misconduct. Rather, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found that UEFA failed to follow its own guidelines in levying the suspension to begin with.

“Prosecution is barred after five years for all breaches of the UEFA club licensing and FFP (Financial Fair Play) regulations,” a critical part of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) handbook states.

Was digging up cases dating back to 2014 an inexcusable oversight on the part of some sloppy lawyers at the CFCB’s adjudicatory chamber? Was UEFA arrogant to assume it could bend its own rules without being challenged? Or was it, as some City fans would have you believe, part of UEFA’s unyielding agenda against the side from the old industrial wastelands of east Manchester?

Many questions will be cleared up in the coming days when the CAS releases its full findings from its base in Lausanne, Switzerland, but one thing is for certain: The rich, ambitious, and nitwitted in European football will now be tempted to overspend and perhaps deliberately shun FFP regulations.

The Saudi Arabian-led consortium seeking to take over Newcastle United, for example, will back itself to hire a skilled team of lawyers who can pick holes in UEFA’s statutes should the Magpies be found to have spent beyond their means over the next few years. By foolishly disregarding its own five-year rule when trying to block Manchester City from the Champions League, UEFA showed that – in this case, at least – its courtroom clout is pretty feeble. UEFA’s embarrassing loss serves as an open invitation for other clubs to try to sidestep FFP.

City’s “obstruction of the investigations,” as the CAS described in Monday’s media release, was an indication of guilt. The club insisted it was innocent yet denied UEFA access to the evidence that could apparently prove this. The door was shut in UEFA’s face.

But City still won, escaping with just a €10-million fine for refusing to comply with UEFA’s probe. That’s nearly identical to what they paid in 2015 for Patrick Roberts, who has never started a league match for City. For this club, €10 million is the spare change under the sofa cushions.

On the surface, letting Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, and the rest of Manchester City’s superstars in the Champions League for the next two years doesn’t seem a terrible punishment for UEFA. City have established themselves as one of the most entertaining teams since the Abu Dhabi United Group took over the club in 2008. Pep Guardiola’s attacking philosophy is a boon for television audiences.

And that is vital for UEFA right now. Some argue the chief reason behind establishing FFP in 2011 was to protect its elite, to only allow the wealthy to spend. Whether the governing body likes it or not, City are part of that elite. The income gained from City’s participation in the Champions League – over that of say, Leicester City or Sheffield United – is more important than ever when the coronavirus could cause a £1-billion shortfall for Premier League clubs and has worsened the crippling losses at teams like Barcelona. There isn’t as much money sloshing around in European football amid the pandemic.

“We follow the UEFA rules. They dictate what we have to do, and we do it,” a feisty Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday, according to The Athletic’s Sam Lee. “People have to understand right now that we are here to try to compete on the pitch and at the same level as the elite clubs in the Premier League but in Europe too. We can be here.”

Monday’s judgment undoubtedly strikes a heavy blow to FFP. UEFA’s financial small print was already set aside during the pandemic, but the organization insists FFP isn’t dead. European football’s administrative body and the European Club Association “remain committed to its principles,” reads UEFA’s statement on the CAS vanquishing City’s ban.

In some ways, FFP works. Europe’s top-flight clubs combined for €5 billion in losses in the three years preceding the implementation of FFP; then, a report for the financial year of 2018 showed the continent’s leading outfits had made a collective profit in back-to-back years.

But City showed there are gaps to be exploited. For UEFA to protect itself against further humiliation in the future, there needs to be more stringent guidelines – perhaps a continent-wide salary cap – otherwise, this won’t be the last time it’s trampled by one of the clubs under its umbrella.

The Players Coalition is calling on Congress to pass a bill addressing education inequality that has been highlighted and expanded by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter, the players write that without Congressional action, education inequality for prekindergarten through high school students is “likely to be compounded in the coming year and beyond as state and local budgets deteriorate because of increased state and local COVID-related costs and steeply declining revenues due to COVID-related economic disruption.”

The players promoted a pair of bills, one passed by the House of Representatives in May and one proposed in the Senate in late June, that would provide billions of dollars in education funding.

Among the provisions the players are seeking in an education package are significant additional funding for elementary and secondary education, continued legal protections for marginalized students and addressing digital access for students.

COVID-19 exacerbated systemic problems in our schools. Absent significant Congressional action, education inequities are likely to continue growing. Today, we wrote to Senate leadership urging them to pass a COVID-19 relief package with crucial education provisions for our youth. pic.twitter.com/eqUYswaaoy

— PlayersCoalition (@playercoalition) July 17, 2020

The Players Coalition tweeted a copy of the letter Friday morning. It is addressed to Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer and signed by nearly 200 current and former professional athletes.

Victor Font, an opponent of Josep Maria Bartomeu in Barcelona’s 2021 election for the club presidency, fears the Catalonian giants are at risk of falling out of contention for the top domestic and continental honors.

“Competition over the last decade has become more and more professional,” Font told BBC Radio 5 Live, according to BBC Sport.

“You see in the Premier League with clubs well-managed, and even states owning clubs to put in a lot of money at a time where the finance of the club and economic model is stretched to the limit.

“Unless we do what we are trying, Barca has the risk of becoming a new AC Milan or a Manchester United.”

Milan haven’t won the Serie A title since the 2010-11 campaign, while United are still rebuilding after Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager in 2013.

Font says he’s been working on his presidential “project” for seven years and believes he can arrest the slide that could see Barcelona “not able to compete for the top titles.” He described the jobs to oversee during the next few years – replacing an aging generation, renovating the Camp Nou, and dealing with the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic – as the “perfect storm.”

Real Madrid ended Barcelona’s two-year La Liga reign Thursday when Zinedine Zidane’s side beat Villarreal by a 2-1 scoreline. To further underline Barcelona’s recent slump during Bartomeu’s presidential reign, Quique Setien’s throng was humbled 2-1 at home by Real Osasuna on the same day.

Lionel Messi appeared despondent for large chunks of that affair and blasted his team after the match for being “very weak” throughout the season.

“He is unhappy and doubting what to do next,” Font said of Messi’s situation. “He is probably a bit frustrated as year after year he is not able to win, especially the Champions League. That’s where the focus needs to be.

“We want to ensure he understands if we were to run the club from next summer onward, we would put all the conditions to equip him in the best possible way so the last years of his career here he can still aspire to win a couple of Champions Leagues.”

Font wants to bring Xavi back to Barcelona as head coach. Xavi, the former midfielder who won four Champions Leagues and eight La Liga titles with Barca, is currently in charge of Qatari side Al-Sadd.

Myles Garrett said Thursday that he’s ready to live up to the distinction of being the highest-paid defender in NFL history.

“Now I have to assert myself as top dog,” he said. “I feel like I’m confident and ready to do that.

“Time to prove it.”

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns’ star pass-rusher signed a five-year extension with the Browns containing $100 million in total guarantees, the most ever paid to a defensive player, league sources told ESPN — with $50 million guaranteed at signing. The team did not discuss financial terms, but sources told ESPN that the deal is worth $125 million with a $25 million average salary, which is also a record for a defensive player.

“They had faith in me, and now I’ve got to give [the Browns] a reason to have that faith,” said Garrett, who, with the extension, will be under contract in Cleveland through the 2026 season. “I’m going to do my best to make it worth it to them.”